What Makes an Agent
by LionshadeSC
Summary: what the title says
1. Prologue: The Beginning

Prologue: The Beginning

"No! No please! Please don't!"

The helpless woman cried, holding up her arms as protection as the large man stood above her, an evil and hungry look in his eyes that sent chills of fear down her spine. The woman let out a shriek as he started to reach for her. Her eyes clamped shut.

Suddenly the dark shadow was gone. Her eyes flew open to see a small frame beating the man, strong yet small fists beating in to his body, dark brown eyes sharp and focused as the smaller figure fought the one that was clearly superior to him.

The small one landed a strong hit right in the jaw of the man, knocking him down on to the ground. The boy stood over the cowering man who let out whimpers of fear and dismay. "Now listen," the boy said. "I don't want to ever hear from you again. If you so much as look at a woman, I'll know about it. And believe me when I say it, _I will know. _Got it?"

The voice was higher in tone and pitch, sending bouts of curiosity through the young woman who had been saved. The boy's voice, childish as it was, came out dark and threatening. He meant what he said. The loser of the fight nodded numbly, whimpering slightly.

"Good. Now beat it!"

The man scrambled away and out of sight. The boy stood to his full height, which wasn't very much. Rain started to break from the clouds, and he walked over to the girl. He held out a small pale hand. "Ma'am? Would you like to get up? Don't worry. He's gone now."

She stared up in the face of her rescuer. His brown eyes were dark and his teeth a clean pure white. His hair fell down in a messy drape with tangles and knots. It clumped in the falling rain. W-Was his hair, blue?

The woman held his hand as he helped her up. The boy was small, barely even thirteen. His frame was small too. Everything about him was, small. "Uh, thank you," she said. How had he been able to defeat that other man, who had been huge, strong and more than twice his size?

"No problem ma'am," he said with a smile. "Would you like me to walk you home?"

_So polite, _she observed. "Um, no thank you. I'll be fine. Thank you so much."

He bowed to her, sweeping his hat from his head and moving his arm in front of his waist. "It's no trouble ma'am. Have a good evening." He turned and began to walk away, putting his baseball cap back on to his head.

"Wait!" she called.

He stopped, turning towards her. His silhouette became dark in the faded light. "What's your name?" she asked.

The boy paused quietly upon this. He furrowed his brow down in thought. At last he lifted his head to her, "I don't have a name ma'am. Just call me Kid."

He tipped his baseball cap to her. The saved one blinked. In that single moment, he was gone.

_Such a strange boy. . . _she thought to herself, her heart beating too loudly. She began to back away in to the main street. Her heels clicked on the cement as she walked quickly away. She would definitely have a story for her friends the next day.

And definitely for the paper.

**Hello friends, and thank you for joining me on this next adventure! (bows in sweeping motion) I thank you for coming to read yet another of my PnF fanfictions. Once more, this will center more around Perry, and how he became an agent. I promise that all things will become clear in due time, such as why our favorite OWCA agent is a human. ;p **


	2. Chapter 1: Life as Kid

Chapter 1: Life as Kid

Kid awoke to a blue sky dotted with pure white clouds. It was going to be a peaceful day in the city of Danville. Grown-ups go to work, kids go to school, pets stay home guarding the home front.

The boy sat up in his alley. Over the years he had made his own little shelter here in the dead end. Old pillows, blankets, and a cardboard roof with tin over it like a roof to keep out the elements.

His stomach gurgled, reminding him of food that awaited out there. He let out a yawn, standing to his bare feet. Summer was his favorite time of year. He didn't have to worry about being cold, and food was abundant. During the colder seasons he would go to the homeless shelter for food. People were less suspicious of him now that he was getting older and taller. He couldn't go there when he was smaller or people might take him to the police or something, demanding to know where his parents were.

He stretched out his sore muscles and looked over at the busy and bustling street outside. He tried to comb his fingers through his knotty hair, but to no avail. He'd have to steal a hairbrush later.

The boy wore a large ragged T shirt with flabby pants that had several holes and a couple patches here and there. No socks or shoes blessed his dirty feet.

Kid had been living on the street as long as he could remember. All he knew about his past is that he was found by this homeless lady in the street, wrapped up in blankets with a note asking for someone to look after him.

The homeless lady's name was Ebony. She raised him with the help of some of her other homeless friends, and she gave Kid to the foster home when she began to get older, but he kept running away, not wanting to go to foster homes left and right like other orphans. The calling of the city was too strong for him, after living in it for just a short 6 years. The busybody people, the smells, the sights the sounds. He didn't want to miss it, he knew he would have if he had stayed in that stupid orphanage.

Nobody ever named him. They tried to name him in the orphanage. They called him John Doe since they didn't know who he was. Even the police didn't know. And what kind of name is John Doe? It isn't. So Kid ran away yet again. It seemed at last that they had stopped searching for him. He had been on his own since he was eight now. And in that time he'd been learning what many people never do.

How to survive.

Kid knew the best places to steal so he couldn't go hungry. He knew the best places to sleep if one wanted a warm place in winter or a cooler place in the hot summers. He had taught himself to fight. His eyes had seen the darkness of this world. People getting mugged, women raped, children murdered. He decided to dedicate his life to helping them as long as he lived on the street.

He was like a good criminal. He had to steal to live, but he helped others who needed it. A bad rescuer or a good criminal. Either one.

Kid began to walk out of his little alley, adjusting his cap ever so slightly so that it tilted a little to the left. His feet slapped against the wet cement as he merged with the walking people to go down to the marketplace.

People gave him a wide berth as he continued on his way. He probably looked bad, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he _smelled _as bad as he looked.

Getting to the market and stealing from it was near too easy. When he left, he left with a smile on his face and an armful of fresh food. A carton of milk, some fresh bread, cheese, fruits and vegetables.

Kid got in to a familiar alleyway and walked down through and past the other homeless people lining the alley with their own little roofs and beds. He kept walking till he got to a nice little homely one. Plastic flowers of every color lined the shelter. The blankets were old, dirty and smelled, but to a kid who had been raised on the street, it was near unrecognizable.

"Hey Mom," he murmured, walking in. He crouched down and sat cross legged on a small portion of the blanket.

"Oh, hello Kid," a weak voice responded. An old gnarled hand reached over and pet his head gently. "You've gotten bigger. How've you been child?"

"Good," he held out some food. "I brought you something."

"Oh, such a good boy." Ebony reached over with her bony fingers and pat his head softly. He closed his eyes, opening them only when she moved her hand away to eat the food. "Where'd you get it?" she asked.

"The market."

"Stolen?"

"Yes."

"Of course," she ate in to the bread, her jaws chewing slowly.

Kid looked at her, and she looked at him. At last she reached over to him, making a spinning motion with her finger. "Turn around."

He did as he was told, unsurprised when she removed his hat and started combing his hair. Ebony only had a single hairbrush, and she'd only ever used it on herself and Kid. It was almost a habit for her to brush his hair after one of his visits. "You're warm where you are right?" she asked.

"Yes. It's summer after all."

"True. It's felt colder to me though. . ." she trailed off, and Kid didn't respond. Both of them knew that her time was drawing near. She was old now.

"It'll be warm for a little longer," he assured her, flinching slightly when she brought the comb through his hair.

"I hope so."

They remained in comfortable silence after that, both content to not say anything. It felt like a long time, but Ebony finally let him go. "Alright, you're done."

Kid ran a hand down his now soft and silky hair. "Okay. Thanks."

"It's no problem Kid."

He tossed a smile over his shoulder at her and put his hat over his head. "I'll be gone now."

"Go ahead and take some food."

Kid shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips. "No, it's okay. You can keep it. I'll get some more later."

"But you need it more than me!" she protested.

"No, you do," he told her. His heart wrenched in his chest. "Okay I'll go now."

"Very well," she sighed. "Bye Kid."

"Bye Mom!" he waved to her and turned back on to the main street, his chest tight. It always hurt him to have to part from her, knowing that she was getting more and more sickly.

The day went by uneventful. Kid stole some more food, getting away easily. He took a nap in the park and by the time he woke up it was near sunset.

"Better go home," he said, stifling a yawn. He placed his hand over his mouth and sneezed briefly. He shook his head.

"You okay?"

Kid looked up. Facing him was a woman with bright orange hair held back with a headband. With her were three children. One a girl around the age of eleven with hair the same as her mother's, and two smaller boys about seven years old. One was shorter and had hair similar to his mom and sister's. The other however had bright green hair ruffled atop his head with intelligent dark blue eyes. Instead of hiding behind their mom's legs, they watched next to her, looking over the ragamuffin kid not much older than them.

"Mommy, why is he so dirty?" the small ginger boy asked.

"Shh Phineas!" she shushed him.

"Um, thanks I'm fine," he said bashfully. He hated it when people pushed pity on him. He stood up, preparing to leave.

"My name's Phineas, what's yours?" the little ginger boy asked again.

Kid paused and looked down at him. "Uh, Kid."

"Cool! This is my brother Ferb! And that's my sister Candace! And this is my mommy." He grabbed her hand.

Kid nodded at the mother awkwardly.

Suddenly Phineas looked confused. "Where's your mommy?"

Before Kid could answer, Phineas's mom spoke up. "Do you need any help?"

"No thanks," he said. "I've chosen the way I live. Don't worry about me ma'am. I'll be okay."

She stared at him, uncertainty lingering in her gaze. "Well, if you feel that way. It was nice meeting you Kid. Be safe!"

They began to walk away. Kid watched them go, his hands in his pockets. He smirked when he heard the little girl whisper excitedly. "He's cute Mommy!"

Kid smiled, then started his walk home.


	3. Chapter 2: OWCA

Chapter 2: OWCA

Kid was only one alley from his home. He walked with a little more spring in his step and a smile on his face as he thought about the kids he had met today. They had been pretty cute, even if they were rude in that innocent child way.

Kid paused at the entrance to his alley. It was dark as usual, that was to be expected at night, but. . . something was wrong. . .

He took a step forward, his feet not making a sound. He took another step. Then another, and another. At last-

Attackers came out of nowhere. He whipped around and brought his fist forward, meeting something soft and furry. Was his attacker wearing a fur coat?

No! He was behind him!

Kid pivoted where he stood and hit it with his other fist. This time he felt scales. _Smack! _Now feathers. He did a roundhouse kick to another one from the side, and soon he was battling what felt like an army of enemies coming at him from all corners of the dark. Nearly all of them felt like they had some sort of coat made of feathers, scales or fur. They made animal sounds too, but it was impossible that he was fighting animals, right?

A light blared on, blinding him. Kid turned to it and put his arm over his eyes, shielding them. He could barely make it out, but there appeared to be at least fifteen small silhouettes facing him, all in the shapes of animals. A dog, cat, chicken, mouse, even a turtle! Had he really been fighting animals?

Two more figures appeared, one taller than the other. The light toned down a little. He was able to recognize a man with dark brown hair, a unibrow and a mustache standing next to the shorter person, who looked to be about college age. He had curly russet hair and wide purple glasses.

"Hello Kid," the taller one said. His voice was deep and throaty. "We've been looking for you all day."

"What do you want with me?" Kid answered, his voice sharp as a knife. "Who are you with?" Months ago he had beaten up a member of a gang that was passing through here. After he beat him up the man swore his revenge. Kid had been on his toes ever since.

"We're not here to hurt you," the man promised.

"Then what was with the ambush?"

"To test you," he answered solemnly. "We sent out all of our agents to attack you and you faced every single one of them without so much as a scratch. We knew that you were good but we never knew that you were _that _good. Not many people can fight off our agents. You have amazing senses, so you could even fight them in the pitch black darkness."

"Which is pretty impressive," the smaller one piped up. His voice was higher pitched and a little nasally.

"Be quiet Karl."

"Yes sir."

"So what?" Kid asked, annoyed.

"We'd like you to consider joining us," the tall one said.

"Me? A kid?"

"Yes."

"What for?"

"We don't have much time." The man held out a card. Kid took it, unable to read it right now because of the blinding light. "All of your questions will be answered. Come visit us in three days. We'll be waiting for you."

Kid raised an eyebrow. "And what if I say no?"

"Then we won't bother you. It's your decision."

"What organization do you work for?" he asked skeptically.

"We can't tell you that until you've decided to join us," the younger one said. "Only members can know. Sorry." There was a little bit of pride in his voice.

"Don't get cocky Karl."

"Yes sir."

"Anyway. We'll look forward to your arrival."

There was a brighter blinding flash of light. Kid squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, they were gone.

He blinked several times to adjust his vision. He looked down at the card given to him. On it was a simple address.

He turned the card over.

"Owned by the OWCA," Kid murmured. "So much for secrecy."

He looked up at the sky. Because of all the city lights, he couldn't see the stars. "The OWCA, huh?"

"Good I thought they'd never leave."

Kid's heart froze in his chest. He didn't even turn around to see who it was, he just let his feet take off in the direction of the street light overhead. But the moment he started running that way, a gunshot sounded and the light ahead blared off.

Now it was completely dark.

Kid whipped around, his eyes searching the blackness. He picked up the shuffling of feat, the sound of heavy breathing, and the stink from their breath came from all around him.

He was surrounded.

Kid tried to barrel one of them away. They laughed, pushing him back easily. "Haha! Forget it Kid. You ain't never getting through us.

"Come on now guys break it up," he heard one say. The ones that were facing the alley backed away so that the space behind Kid was perfectly clear.

A voice chuckled in front of him, the breath of the man tickling his ear. "Run."

Overcome by terror, Kid started running to the light, whipping his fists out at the men against the corners pressed in to the wall. He was nearly to the end of the alley when a gunshot sounded.

A sharp pain hit Kid in the back. He gasped for air as the force of the bullet pushed him on to the ground. Kid gasped, hardly able to breathe. He could feel the hot and sticky red blood flowing out of him, pooling around him. Kid began trembling, his vision began to blur. He pushed himself to his feet, forcing himself to stand. But when he did he only met punches to the face and kicks to his legs.

The kid tried to fight them off as they all surrounded him. He tried to scream but no sound came out. It was hard to breathe and it began to get harder every second that passed.

The fight was only about fifteen seconds. Kid at last gave out, allowing his body to fall on to the ground. His eyes closed, his heart slowed, and his brain settled down.

He was ready for death as the darkness closed in on him. The last sound he heard was the gang members laughing at the simplicity of defeating him.

**sorry its late i slept in. its 10:30 here. X3 sorriez!**


	4. Chapter 3: Doof

Chapter 3: Doof

Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz drove happily through the streets, the small bag of groceries in the back of the car. Dinner tonight would consist of bread and cheese smacked on a pan to create the heavenly product known as grilled cheese sandwiches, made by himself. Every time Norm made them he burnt them. "I just like them dark sir!" he would say.

"_But like a ninja of love, repelling down from above, you snuck your way right in to my heart,_" he sang to himself quietly, scanning the road half heartedly to watch for some old granny crossing the street.

Instead his eyes found something different.

"Oh I hope that isn't roadkill I can't stand that."

Doofenshmirtz continued to drive closer, and as he did, the worst possibilities came to his mind, his heart beat faster and his eyes grew wider. When he was only a little ways away, he realized what it was.

It was a kid.

He slammed his foot on the brakes, jumping out, barely bothering to put it in Park as he ran to the kid. "Oh God please no," he whispered. He approached the body, getting in to a kneeling position as his mind went in to overdrive. His medical instinct kicked in.

First thing that he saw was blood. He had to take care of that.

The man whipped off his coat and put it on the ground in front of him.

_Check the wounds, _his mind ordered him.

He saw most of the blood was coming from the kid's chest. The scientist couldn't help but gasp when he recognized the bullet wound. He pulled up the shirt and wrapped his coat as best he could around the kid where he lay on the ground. His eyes were closed, his face pale and dirty. His blue teal hair was splattered with blood too. Bruises and scrapes covered him head to toe. No shoes or socks covered his cold feet.

_What happened to him? _Doof thought as he brought his watch to his mouth. "Norm, Norm are you there?"

"Hello sir! Do you want me to help you carry in the groceries?"

"You know that would be nice- oh, no wait wait! Norm you have to get where I am immediately! There's a kid here and he's really messed up."

"Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Yes!" Doof nearly yelled in frustration. "Hurry it up though!"

He turned off the walkie talkie and turned back to the kid. Carefully, he placed his middle and index finger together, placing them gently underneath the kid's jaw. He knit his brows together when he didn't feel a pulse. His eyes closed, making sure his fingers were absolutely still.

_There. _He felt a surge of relief as the familiar pounding of blood flowing through veins greeted him. A sigh escaped him and he looked up as Norm appeared. "Hello sir!"

"Yes yes hello Norm. Now turn in to a hovercraft or something this kid needs something to lie down on."

"What about dinner?" Norm asked as his robotic body turned in to a flat hovercraft with a bed bolted to him and bars around it to keep the person from falling off. A pillow, nicely fluffed lay on one end of it.

Doof picked up the kid carefully and walked on to the surface, gingerly placing him on the makeshift bed. When he did the kid's body seemed to relax, as if it was sighing in happiness, like it had never rested on a bed before.

"Okay Norm take us home."

"What about dinner?" Norm repeated.

"You can come pick them up after we get this kid checked out."

"To the hospital?"

"No! We're going home."

"Right now?"

"Yes right now! Hurry up!"

Norm lifted in to the air, and the trio soared away to Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorperated.

***to Kid***

Kid sighed happily as he settled more in to the soft white cloud. He must be dead. This was ecstasy. He'd never touched anything so soft and comfortable as this. It must be Heaven. His chest didn't hurt as much either, even better. Of course there were small little pings of hurt here and there, but nothing so much as compared to the soft cloud he rested on.

"I never want to leave," he murmured, nuzzling his face in to the softness.

But it began to get darker. And soon everything was black, but he was still able to feel the softness.

Kid blinked his eyes open, realizing he had been dreaming. His eyes widened. He sat up, groaning as the pain flashed up his back, more intense than he had thought. "Agh!"

"Oh you're awake, good!"

Kid looked over to the side. A light flickered on. He found himself in a stranger's apartment, resting on a couch. Kid blinked, staring at the person before him. He would be pretty tall if he didn't slouch. He wore panda slippers, a large blue t-shirt and a pair of dark shorts.

"Sorry you had to see me like this," he apologized, walking over and handing Kid a cup of something warm and sweet. "You were asleep for quite a while." The stranger sipped his own drink. Kid took notice of his scruffy cocoa hair and sparkling turquoise eyes.

Kid didn't drink any of what he held. "How long have I been asleep?"

He looked at his watch. "Ah, through pretty much all the night. It's only six in the morning, about dawn." The stranger let out a yawn. "I didn't poison your drink you know. Go ahead and have some."

Kid brought it closer to his lips, smelling it carefully. "Ah, what is it?" It smelled good.

The man looked confused. "It's, hot coco. Don't you know what that is?"

Kid shook his head, his companion widening his eyes. "Really? Strange. Do you come from a poor family or something?"

"Close enough," Kid muttered. He allowed himself to try a drop of the hot coco. Hmm. It was good. It burned his tongue just a little, but the sweetness was worth it.

"How did you get that bullet in you anyway?" he asked.

Kid looked down almost shamefully. "Ah, I beat someone off, and they brought friends."

The man raised his eyebrows. "Lots of friends?"

"Mhmm."

"With guns?"

Kid cleared his throat. "Yeah."

He stared at him for a few moments then reached out a hand. "I'm Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz."

Kid took his hand and shook it silently. Like a child Heinz asked, "What's your name?"

For the first time, Kid felt a little ashamed of his name. "Kid," he muttered.

Most people when hearing his name would look down awkwardly and usually not say anything. This was usually around people who weren't homeless like him. And he never really had any need telling his other homeless friends. Everyone seemed to know each other's name around here if you didn't have anywhere else to go.

To Kid's surprise, Doof broke out in laughter. "'Kid'! Well that does certainly fit you! What are they gonna call you when you get older? Man?"

Kid cracked a smile. "Yeah I guess so."

Doof laughed a little longer and wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry for laughing. Anyway, I might as well tell you what happened. I was able to get the bullet out of your chest, but it's sure to hurt for a while more. You have lots of cuts and bruises. I've added some ointment to them and they'll heal rather quickly. I'm surprised you were even able to sit up this soon. Most people after they got shot would be asleep for days, sometimes weeks. It's a miracle you've been able to even be awake."

Kid shrugged. Nothing he could do about it.

Doof shook his head. "Anyway, you can stay here as long as you like. Is there a family you need to get back to?"

"Not really," Kid admit.

"You live on the streets?"

Kid was about to answer with a lie, but Doof read it in his eyes before he even answered. "No need to lie to me Kid. I understand what it's like to not have any parents. I wasn't exactly raised by my parents myself."

"You were an orphan?" Kid was interested. "So you were raised on the streets too?"

"Not really," Doof admit. "I was more, raised in the wild. I was raised by ocelots."

Kid stared. "Wait, really? Seriously?"

Doof laughed. "I was actually."

Kid allowed himself to laugh, placing a hand over his mouth. "And I thought _I _had a weird childhood!"

Doof laughed. "I would agree with you at that."

"So," Kid said after another moment or two of laughter. "what do you do to, you know, pay the bills around here?"

_Probably another boring job, _he guessed. That's another one of the things about living like a normal boy would in this time. He'd go to school then he'd have to go work at some crappy job he would never like, one where he had to dress up in fancy clothes every day and sit in an office all day long.

"I'm actually an evil scientist."

Kid pricked his ears. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah I am," the said scientist replied.

Kid's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Doof nodded proudly. "I'm an official scientist now. I signed up for the Agent/Nemesis program a week ago. They sent me a letter saying that the agent I have to fight will arrive any day now. They work fast don't they?"

"Who?" Kid asked, confused, but remembering that the person who talked to him yesterday referred to his animals as 'agents'.

"If you want to be an official scientist, you sign up for this program to get a nemesis. Then they come and fight you daily to ruin your evil schemes. Otherwise if you don't sign up you're just a fake and not a true scientist."

Kid furrowed his eyebrows. "What's the name of this organization?"

"Don't know," Doof shrugged.

The boy pulled a hand through his smooth hair. Okay, this was weird. It was then that he noticed something.

He wasn't wearing his clothes. The clothes that he was wearing weren't his. These ones were much too big for him. He looked up to Doof, eyebrows raised.

"My associate changed those for you. Your clothes are in the dryer. I can give you some new clothes if you want. I have plenty for you to use."

"No thanks I'll keep my old clothes," Kid said. It would feel weird to go back to his friends wearing nice new clothes while they were still stuck with their old rags.

"If you insist," Doof shrugged, going over to a steaming kettle and pouring in to his cup more hot cocoa. Kid stared at Doof for a few moment in shock. Usually when he refused others' charity, they would keep insisting until he would break. Then he'd just take them back to a shelter for someone else. It surprised him how easily Doof didn't push him.

"Do you want more coco?" Doof asked from the kitchen.

"No thanks," Kid said.

Doof walked to Kid and handed him a wrap of dollar bills. Kid stared at it, then up at him.

"Take it," Doof said. "You need it more than I do."

The exact words that Kid had said to Ebony. "I don't need it Doc. I never have."

Doof glared at him firmly. "Now listen Kid, I may be an evil scientist, but I don't think a kid should have to steal just so he can go with a full stomach."

"I've never had a full stomach. It's more empty than full."

"Whatever. Just take it. Go buy some clothes or food or something."

Kid looked at it, then up at Heinz, who's teal eyes narrowed. Dr. Doofenshmirtz never really was one for charity, but when he looked in to Kid's deep brown eyes, something stirred in him. This kid, though small and weak he would appear, was destined for great things. He could feel it. If guided in the right direction, he would walk the path of greatness, but if not, darkness would follow, lead and one day consume him.

He couldn't let that happen.

So it was with certainty that he handed Kid a roll of twenties. The boy looked up at him, his auburn crystals searching. At last he lowered his gaze to the money, and reached out a hesitant hand. But he didn't take the money, he simply held out his palm.

Doof placed them in it and released the money. Kid pocketed it and bowed his head briefly. "Thank you."

Feeling a brightness in Doof's chest, he reached over and ruffled the kid's head. "Hey, it's no problem kiddo."

Kid smirked and reached over for his old baseball cap that sat on the table. "I'd better be going then."

"I'll drive you."

"You sure?"

"Of course."

Doof went off and fetched Kid's old clothes. Kid went in to the bathroom to start changing but Doof stopped him. "Just take them with you."

"Oh but-"

"Keep them in the winter or something for warmth. With your size you'll definitely need them."

Kid looked over him, nodded his head and put them in a plastic sack. They went down to the car, Kid taking shotgun.

He directed Doof through the city until they got to the back of an alley.

Kid licked his lips. "Okay. Thank you. This is good."

"This place?" Doof sounded disbelieving. "Are you sure?"

"These are my streets. I know them," Kid assured. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. Come on over if you ever need anything."

"I will, thank you," Kid said, knowing he probably wouldn't.

Doof seemed to know this as well. "Take care of yourself Kid."

"Thanks. You too."

"I don't have to worry about myself," Doof sighed as Kid closed the door.

He waved as Doof drove away and began running down the alley when the car was out of sight. His feet pounded on the damp stone ground and he slid a couple times, getting a reminder that he had been hurt. After just a few moments of running he had to slow down to a slow jog. He was limping by the time he got to Ebony's.

"Mom?" he called softly. "Mom? Are you awake?"

Kid reached a tentative hand over and gently shook her shoulders. She stirred and rolled over, looking over him. "Oh, Kid. Hey there child."

She looked even worse with her sunken cheeks, pale skin and fragile bones showing through. Kid held back a shudder as he smelled her bad breath. He held out the bag of fresh clothes. "I brought these for you."

Ebony sat up best she could, grabbing the bag and opening it with slow and awkward movements. Her eyes widened. "Oh, oh Kid. Where did you get these?"

"A friend gave them to me."

She looked over him. "You get in a fight?"

"Yes."

Her eyes were sad. "But don't you need these clothes?"

He shook his head. "Mine will last for a long time. You need these to keep you warm. You can use them as blankets can't you?"

Ebony's eyes gleamed happily. "Oh Kid, you've always been so kind to me."

The boy smiled at her gently, tears threatening to break his eyes. Her condition had gotten worse over the short amount of time that he had been away from her. Every second that passed brought her closer and closer to death.

She reached a knobbly hand to him, placing it on his cheek. His lip was tremulous, the tears finally dripping from his eyes as she spoke to him, "Kid, you promise me something."

"Yes Mom?"

"When I leave, you promise me to not worry over me. I'll be up in the good Lord's abode, healthy and youthful and happy again. You worry about yourself. Don't grieve for me. Just keep living. And Kid?"

"Yes?"

"Don't live here. Go find a safe place to live, somewhere you can have a full and happy life. Get yourself an education, a proper family, a safe and warm place to stay during the cold nights-"

"Mom no! I-I can't do that. I live here, out with the people. We're a, we're a team living out here. I have community with the people here. Besides, no one would take me in. You know what they called me in the orphanage. Wild, sarcastic, feral, mean, troublesome. No one would want me."

"That's just because they haven't seen the good boy that I know you to be. And you're cute enough to be picked."

"Mom," he grabbed her hand. "What if I don't _want _to be chosen? What if I don't want to have a family and a warm place to stay? What if I don't like living the way they do and I love the way I do now?"

"Oh Kid," she murmured. "No one can be happy living the way we do. Sickness is like a death penalty, and we're constantly hungry."

Kid felt his heart twist. "You know I can't promise that Mom."

"If not for yourself, then for me."

He blinked. "I-I can try."

"You need to really try. I want to be at peace knowing you're safe when I pass on."

Kid stared at her and started shaking. He placed his other hand over his eyes, sobs beginning to quake his body. "I-I will," he cried. "I promise. I-I'll get a job, or something."

She pat his cheek softly. "That's it. Now, stop crying. Look at me."

He lifted his head, eyes red, face a flushed pink. She grabbed his hand as firmly as it could and squeezed it gently. "Remember who you are Kid."

"I will," he murmured.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She kissed his hand. "Good boy. Go on now. It'll be nearly lunch time by the time we finish our crying. Go on and fetch some food."

Kid nodded and got to his feet, grateful to be able to run through the alleys like a well known maze and able to stretch out his lean legs as far as they would go. His legs didn't ache the entire run through. He didn't stop, and the pain in his chest was gone.

**Longest chapter I have seriously ever written. Tell me you love meeeeeeee**

**lolz jk. Mostly dialogue, so its almost lazy writing XD Hope you liked it anyway! Next chapter should be up tomorrow-ish! :D**


	5. Chapter 4: Passing On

Chapter 4: Passing On

The sunbeams were warm on Kid's back as he curled up in to a tighter ball, the blanket almost feeling hot. But it felt good, so he didn't really mind. A long sigh escaped him, filled with contentment. Nothing could beat waking up with the warm sun on your back, dew dripping your hair tips. He shook out his hair to get some of the water off and tried to squeeze his body even closer, preserving his warmth.

"Kid. Kid."

Said Kid let out a mumble. "Go way. Sleepin'."

"Kid. Kid come on."

"No. Go way."

"Kid. Wake up."

A foot nudged his back uncomfortably. The teal haired one rolled over so he looked up at his waker. "Whaddaya want?"

It was another homeless person that Kid was quite familiar with. This man was like an uncle to him. Nobody knew what his name was, he never told. Everyone called him Fred, since the shirt he had been wearing for a while was from Wal-Mart and had the name Fred on it. He'd been that way every since. He was mid forties with feathery brown hair and glimmering gray eyes. He had a vest over a loose long sleeved shirt and pants that flapped in the wind. He was a little bigger than most, which was changing after living on the streets for so long. His shoes were nearly tatters.

"Wa' is it Fred?" Kid mumbled sleepily, blinking the gunk away from his eyes.

Fred wrung his hat in his large hands. "Kid," he said softly. "Ebony, she, she's in her final moments. We thought it would be best if you were with her."

Kid was at his feet in an instant. "Why didn't you tell me?" he snapped. Fred chased after the nimble youth as he jumped over boxes and dodged other people as he sprinted to Ebony. His feet were chilled in the morning with the stone underfoot, his nose nipped by the cold. Fred followed loyally.

They got to Ebony's place. A soft breeze stirred the shelter, flapping a couple of the blankets that hung from the small roof of her shelter. Kid got to his knees in front of her. He listened to her raspy breath, and he grabbed her cold hand in his small warm one. "Mom?" he murmured. "Mom?"

The elder blinked open her eyes and gave a toothy smile at him. "Oh Kid. Good, good. I thought you wouldn't, get here."

"Fred fetched me," he answered quickly. There was silence between them for a couple moments, when Kid finally voiced his thoughts. "A-Are you ready then? To pass on?"

"Yes. I am."

"Are you scared?" he murmured.

"More relieved than nervous," she told him, her lips barely moving as she spoke. "I've lived a good long life. I'm ready to be at peace."

"I'm glad. What do you want us to, to do . . ." Kid couldn't finish his sentence, almost scared to voice them.

"There's a river north of here, put my ashes there."

Kid nodded jerkily.

"And you make sure you take my brush. You need to keep your hair in good condition. It's so beautiful when you brush it. All clean and shiny."

"More greasy than clean," he told her in quiet amusement.

"True," she tried to laugh. It only came out in a weak wheeze.

"Don't tire yourself," he murmured.

"Now you listen," she told him, after she regained her breath. "I want you to take all of this stuff, and you give it to some of the rest of the crew. And take some for yourself. I'll be able to rest more easy knowing that you'll be a little warmer.

He nodded at her. "Yes Mom."

She smiled weakly at him. "Good boy."

"I love you Mom."

"I love you too Kid."

He held her hand, pressing it to his lips, as if trying to distribute a little of his warmth over to her, like a little bit of life force. She looked away, her soft tan eyes turning glassy. Ebony Margaret Warren took in a breath, and let it out.

It was her last.

Kid closed his eyes, allowing the tears to flow freely. He kissed her lifeless hand, taking in everything of this moment. Her smell, her face, the sound of her voice. His mind pulled in the sound of her laughter, the way she looked after a funny joke, or a good piece of food. He took in a sharp inhale of air, taking in her scent. Like old flowers and soap. All people in their old age smelled like that, but she also had a faint smell of dirt. That was to be expected.

Kid felt Fred place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "She's at peace now son. She can rest easy now."

He only nodded, feeling like his heart was going to break. A shuddering sigh left him. Fred gave his shoulder a soft squeeze. "She thought the world of you ya' know."

Kid looked up at Fred. Both had tears in their eyes. Kid wiped the tears from his eyes. "You heard what Mom said. Take her to the police or something. I'll give out her blankets and stuff."

"You don't want to come with?"

"They'll ask what a kid like me is doing living with homeless people like us."

Fred nodded. "I'll bring her back to you."

Fred crouched down and scooped Ebony up in his strong arms. Kid stood up and kissed her cheek one last time as his friend took her away.

It only took for a short while for Kid to give out most of Ebony's blankets. He kept one of her blankets and one of her pillows, and a few of her flowers, to remember a little bit of her. He took everything to where his own place was and sat there, waiting for Fred to return.

Well he didn't come back for a couple hours after that. It was near noon when he finally got back. In his hand he carried a jar filled with ashes. Kid stood upon his arrival, and received Ebony's remains reverently. "Fred," he murmured. "Will you come with me when, I let her go?"

"Of course I will," he said quietly.

Kid reached down and grabbed one of Ebony's plastic flowers, a sunflower, and gave them to Fred. "Here Fred. Keep this."

"Thanks," he murmured, holding the sunflower, spinning it to and fro. Kid smiled up at him, receiving another smile from his friend, who reached out to pat him on the back. "You're more like a man every day Kid."

"No thanks," Kid said half heartedly.

Fred laughed weakly. "You hungry?"

Kid shook his head. "Not really. Maybe later."

Fred ruffled his hair. "Okay then. I'll be back later to check up on you."

Sunset came faster than Kid anticipated. He had spent most of the day grieving for his lost companion, friend, and mother. He was almost shocked when Fred returned, solemn faced. "You hungry yet? We've got some food."

"We?" Kid said, sitting up.

"I brought some others who knew Ebony. We were going to have a feast. I don't think we have enough."

A smile curled up Kid's face. "I have a better idea."

(**)

"To Ebony, a wonderful friend, a kind soul, and the best mother that we ever could have given this squirt," Fred toasted in the restaurant. He held his Coke high up. All fifteen of them held up their cups, straws poking out. Kid held up his large Dr. Pepper, a tearful smile on his face. Fred gave a flickering smile that brimmed with tears as well. "To Ebony."

"To Ebony!" they all chorused.

The men let out cheers and whoops, clinking plastic cups together and going in to their fries and burgers.

Doof's well given money was being used as a parting feast for Ebony, all of her friends gathered under the same roof in the nearest McDonalds, all on Kid.

Kid sat amidst a group of other friends, talking and laughing happily with them all as they swapped stories of Ebony. One man met her when she was still in her twenties.

"She was beautiful. Hair the same color as her name. Ah you should have seen her in that spring dress she wore."

"How did Ebs become like us anyway?" one asked.

"Found out her husband cheated on her. I heard she gave him and the girl a good beating before runnin off and livin life on the streets. Apparently no one ever heard from the husband or that other girl either."

This brought up laughs from the others, Kid the loudest of all. "Yeah that's Ebony all right!"

More stories were swapped. Condolences were spoken, and it was Kid's turn to speak. He stood up and all voices came to a halt. One called out, "Come on Kid why don't you stand up!"

This sounded more laughter. Kid gave a half hearted laugh. "Yeah, yeah that's funny. You won't be laughing long Bones."

More laughter erupted. Kid stood up on the chair. "Okay okay. I'm short but I could still kick all of your butts."

The voices lowered and Kid cleared his throat. "We came here tonight, to honor the long and blessed life of Ebony. We all knew her, and we all know how great of a friend she was, and how wonderful a mother she was. I was told she never had children, and I'm honored that I was able to be considered one of hers. In many ways I'm sure she thought of all of us her children. She was a kind, gentle and amazing woman who was more wise than any of us could ever be. So tonight, we will drink laugh and be merry or something like that, in honor of her life. To Ebony!"

"Ebony!" they all roared, lifting their cups again, taking a drink and erupting in cheers.

"Yeah Kid!" one called out. "Whoo!"

At long last a worker came and told them that they would have to leave, that they were overdoing their stay, which was a kinder way of being told they were scaring other customers away and were stinking up the place.

They all left in high spirits that night with Kid sitting happily upon Fred's shoulders. Everyone said farewell to each other as they left in little pairs, continuing their talk.

"It was a good day," Kid concluded, placing his chin on Fred's head."

"Yes it was. I don't think my stomach has ever been this full."

"You can say that again."

They laughed to themselves. Kid closed his eyes, letting out another long sigh. "Do you think she's watching us?" The boy tilted his head to the starless sky.

"I know she is," Fred answered. Just because we can't see her, that doesn't mean she can't see us."

"Do you think she's happy?"

"Depends. Are you happy?"

"I'm, content."

"Then so is she. We were all her friends, but you were the one she truly thought to be a son to her. You had a special place in her heart, as I assume she does, and that spot in both of your hearts will last through all of eternity. It's a place that no one else can enter."

Kid gave a half smile and rested his head back on Fred's. "Thank's Fred."

"No problem Kid. Whaddaya say we go home now and get some shut eye?"

"I'm okay with that."

"Good."

**ok thenz. I have a question for you, the readers. How did you like Ebony as a character? Was she all right? Give me your honest opinions on this. :D**

**just for the heck of it I looked up the name ebony to see what it meant, thinking it would mean something deep and similar to Ebony the character. And I looked it up, and it means 'wood from the ebony tree'.**

**Wow. That was deep.**

**Next chapter we'll really be moving! :D until tomorrow then! :D**

**(before im about to upload this chapter): okay so i'm super glad i wrote this all before now because i've been so busy these past two days that i haven't had any time to work on any of the story pretty much. thanks to all of you people who have been following this since day one! and thanks to those who have joined the party! you guys are the fuel to my writers inspiration and motivation so snaps for you and free cookies and happiness for everyone! :D**


	6. Chapter 5: Human

Chapter 5: Human

Kid blinked his eyes open, the image of Ebony flashing in his mind's eye. He bore the heartbreak of his friend being gone, but she was in a better place now. Life would go on, and death will follow, and the cycle will continue. It was something that everyone had to realize and get used to, or you'd be miserable for the rest of your life.

A sigh came from him. He reached in to his pocket, taking out the card that those two men had given him two days ago. Today was the third day. He could go see them now.

He thought back. They were offering him a job, weren't they? And that's what he told Ebony he would do.

Kid put the card in his pocket. That's what he would do. He'd go see them today.

The boy got up to his feet. He knew what he had to do now.

Kid weaved through the maze of close spaced walls, his back brushing against the stone and his hand gripping the jar closely. He made his way to Fred's place. He knew it was Fred, recognizing the loud and obnoxious snores. He knelt down, reaching a hand forward to shake him. After a few unsuccessful times, Fred snorted awake, looking around in a sort of blank confusion before his eyes settled on Kid. "Oh, hey Kid. Good morning."

"Hey Fred. Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" he said sleepily.

"We're going to take care of Ebony."

Fred sat up. "We're gonna put her in the river?"

"In a sense, yes."

Fred stood to his feet. He looked over at Kid, rubbing his arm under his nose to wipe it. "You ready to go right now?"

"Yeah. Come on let's go."

Heaving himself up, Fred got to his feet, stretching out his huge arms and releasing a yawn. He scratched his back. "Okay let's go. Do you have her ashes?"

"Yeah." Kid held up the jar. "Let's go."

It only took them a short walk to get to the river. When they arrived Kid sat down over the edge, his feet swinging down in front of him. He looked over at Fred who was standing beside him, looking grim.

No words were spoken as Kid uncapped the jar. He held his breath, not wanting to inhale any of the ashes. With small tears hanging at the edge of his eyes, he poured out the jar, releasing the ashes. The wind took care of it, sweeping them to the smooth surface of the water.

Kid furrowed his eyes in disapproval as he shook out the rest of the ashes, trying to get out that last bit. "Get, out," he muttered, shaking it a little harder.

"Kid you okay? Calm down," Fred said.

Kid only shook it harder, trying to get it out to no avail. "It, won't, come, out!"

After shaking it hard enough, Kid started to loose his balance. He gasped as his small body careened off of the edge. Before he hit the swirling water he heard Fred call out. "Kid!"

The first thing Kid was aware of was the coldness of the water. Swimming had never been a priority for him, and this was his first time. The feeling of the water surrounding every corner of his body was a little unnerving.

But, this levitated feeling as he hung in the water was, amazing.

The current carried him forward, and Kid was surprised he was able to keep in his breath for so long. He experimented with his hands, swimming forward faster and turning. He figured out a way to slow against the current and speed up.

He looked up, his eyes and ears adjusting to the water best they could. Was it just him, or had someone said his name?

_Kid. . ._

Okay he must be going crazy. The boy turned his head where he hovered in the water, his eyes searching it. He looked around, listening more intently.

_You need air. _

_Oh, _he realized, feeling a little stupid. His chest was beginning to feel a little tight.

The boy allowed himself to float buoyantly up to the surface. When he broke the water fresh air rushed in to his lungs as he was at last allowed to breathe.

He looked around. From where he was, he couldn't tell how downriver he was from the bridge. It wasn't even in his line of sight.

Kid swam easily to the shore and stood up, savoring the cool feeling of the water against his skin and his clothes slapping against his legs. He began walking upriver, pushing through reeds and a multitude of grasses. His legs leaped over a log and carried him all the way to the bridge, where he lost sight of Fred. Water dripped down his face from his hair. He shook his head about, splattering the water off of it.

_Fred'll turn up eventually, _Kid thought to himself. _I wasn't down that long. Only a minute. He must be looking for me downriver. I wonder why I didn't see him. . ._

Shrugging, Kid walked back to his home. When he got there he reached in to his pocket. He was almost dry by now with the warm summer wind brushing past him. He dug in to his pocket, pulling out the little slip of paper with the inky words still on it. They were blurred, but still distinguishable.

Kid looked up at the sky. It was about noon. He should probably be going now. He had to accept the job offer. The deal ended today.

He got to his feet and began walking. People stared at him as he passed, and he ignored them. It wasn't anything unusual for Kid. He was always stared at. When he was younger it annoyed him, mostly because he couldn't figure out why, but now it was just a way of life to him. He tipped his hat to women respectfully as they passed by, and they almost always would blush and look down in embarrassment. Whenever this happened Kid would smile and chuckle quietly to himself, continuing on his way. Yeah he acted all savvy, but Kid had never carried an actual conversation with a real woman, or a girl, besides Ebony, but she didn't count, since she was his mom. A small part of Kid knew that if he ever talked to a real girl, he would hardly be able to speak at all.

Kid refused to acknowledge this fact.

"Hey Kid!"

He stopped, turning his head. In a car was a smiling man with dark brown hair, who smiled at him broadly. "Where you off to?"

Kid blinked. "Ah, to get a job." He felt a little shocked. This was convenient.

The man smiled. "Come on in. I'll give you a ride."

"Thanks Dr. D!" Kid smiled and jumped in. Doof went back to driving as Kid gave out directions.

"So what job are you going for?" he asked.

"Um, I don't really know. But these people came and offered me a job, so I thought I might as well give it a shot."

"Good for you," Doof said, smiling proudly. He gave a caring look to Kid. "I'm proud you decided that. No one can live on the streets forever. I went to live with my family again after a while after living with the ocelots."

"Well, we all have to move on," Kid smiled. It became more tender, "It's what my mother would have wanted."

After a few moments a bright smile lit Kid's face. "Your money went to good use by the way!" he announced.

"Oh really? What was it used for?"

"I bought a lot of my other homeless friends dinner at McDonalds. I still have a little leftover. Do you want it back?"

"No. I gave it to you. It's _your _money now," Doof said. "What made you want to buy them all dinner?"

"We're usually hungry all the time," Kid responded. "And my mother died yesterday. We were honoring her life."

The doctor stopped at the red light, giving Kid a sympathetic life and an encouraging pat on the hand. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm glad you were able to honor her death, and I'm glad I got to help out in some way."

"Thank you," Kid answered gratefully. "Your money fed a lot of hungry bellies."

"I bet."

Another silent second passed before Doof spoke again. "I never really had a good connection with my mother, so it's hard to relate to your own experience, but I do understand the sadness of losing someone." Doof gave Kid a look as the light turned green. "And I thought you were orhphaned."

"She raised me," Kid told him. "She's the best mother I ever could have asked for."

"What was she like?" Doof asked.

"Her name was Ebony. Apparently her hair was black before it turned gray. She was kind, sweet, caring. . . a great person."

"The exact opposite of my mother," Doof said in amusement. Kid cracked a smile at this.

"She was cremated yesterday. I had just finished leaving her in the river when I ran in to you."

"And you decided to take a swim?" Doof asked, raising an eyebrow.

"An accidental one," Kid defended, a smile growing.

Doof smiled too. "Honestly, I never was one for swimming."

"I've never gone swimming until today actually."

"Wasn't it cold?"

Kid shrugged. "Not really. It felt, cool. Like a whole other world, you know?"

"That's one way of describing it," Doof said.

"Left here," Kid directed.

They pulled up to a huge white building that looked like a school almost. Doof could see a sign in front that said _OWCA _with some smaller print below it, but it was too small for him to make out.

"Is this it?" Doof asked.

"Yeah I think so," Kid said, examining what was left of the card and comparing the logo to the one on the sign. "Okay, thanks for the ride Doof."

"No problem Kid. See you later."

"Later!"

Doof waved and began to drive away. Kid turned, walking calmly in to the building. When he got to the door his hand enclosed around the handle, his heart beating almost nervously. Why was he so, scared?

He pulled.

The door didn't open.

He narrowed his eyes and pulled. It still didn't open.

"What, the. . .?"

"Oh come on," he muttered angrily. He yanked harder on it, yet the door didn't budge.

A voice from an intercom spoke. "And you are?"

Kid looked up, searching for what had spoken. His eyes not finding anything, he answered hesitantly, "My name is. . . Kid?"

"Last name?"

"I don't have one. . ."

Silence for a few moments. After another second, "Okay. Come on in."

There was a click as a lock turned. Kid widened his eyes, placing a hand on the door and pulling on it carefully. To his irritation, it opened.

"I hate locks," he muttered.

The boy entered the building. When it closed the lock clicked on again as the door shut. He looked around the large room he was in, adjusting his red cap gently.

"Enter the elevator," a voice from the intercom said.

"What elev-" Kid started, looking over as a white door slid open, revealing the small room.

No, really. It was small, like super small. Kid would have to crawl in there and sit in a crouched position if he wanted to fit.

So that's what he did, grateful he was small.

The elevator took him down, far below the ground. When he reached the place to stop, he crept out of the small hole in to a much larger person sized room with a normal sized table and chairs. The only light was a hanging one over the table. It looked more like an investigation room than a place to conduct an interview.

Kid walked to the chair in front of him, sitting himself down in it, keeping his body light as a small rush of adrenaline pumped through his blood. Something was off about this place. . .

As he finished this thought a large cuff wrapped around his middle. Kid stared at it, eyes wide.

Some interview.

He waited.

No one came.

Shrugging, he slid his legs up through the cuff and lightly stepped from the chair. He was so skinny the cuff hadn't even been able to tighten around his body.

The floor started to slide in to the wall, showing a bubbling pool of green liquid below. Not fazed, Kid jumped to the chair, which wasn't moving at all. But when the chair began to tilt towards the liquid, Kid jumped up to the table. When that began to tilt towards to goop, Kid only jumped up to the light, pulling himself up on it, finding out that the string hanging down from it was really a strong cord.

Once he did this and climbed up the cord to press a button, the room returned to normal. A part of the wall opened as he landed on the normal ground. It was the same two people who had introduced themselves last he met them. The older looking one cleared his throat. "Sorry for the test but it's protocol we do that at every interview to make sure that you would be appropriate for our business. Obviously you showed excellent results. Not so much as a flicker of fear on your face."

"Quite impressive if I do say so myself."

"Thanks," Kid answered. "I'm used to keeping on my toes."

"Of course," the older one said. "And we're glad you can. You seem perfect for what we can offer you."

"Who are you guys?" Kid asked, not really caring what he could get out of this.

"We are the OWCA. It stands for, well, you saw the sign. _(lolz I just don't know what it is XD) _We're an organization that uses animals as secret agents. As agents they go out and work towards peace and justice, destroying their enemies and taking out evil scientists."

"There are more out there than Hollywood ever lets on. We have a strong hold on the media," the college student interrupted.

"You guys, fight, evil scientists? Using animals?"

"Yes."

Kid blinked. "So, what would I do? I'm a human?"

He smiled. "Follow us."

**exciting chapter will be next. :3 or at least more interesting. Actually I think it'll be just a lot more explaining and blah blah blahing.**

**ok so it came to my attention, thanks to meh buds Hatsu Yukiya and Nostrils on the Bus (sing it lol) (real name which i love btw :3) they told me i accidentally called Kid 'Perry' in the last chapter. dont bother looking for it tho cuz i fixed it :3 thanks guys! extra cookies for you! :D**


	7. Chapter 6: No Freakin' Way

Chapter 6: No Freaking Way

"The name's Monogram by the way. Francis Monogram. But I usually just go by Major, isn't that right Karl?"

"Yes it is sir."

"This is my pre-unpaid-intern Karl." _(yes I know it isn't spelled that way but it looks cooler) _He's working to become an unpaid intern soon."

"And I will!"

"Don't get cocky Karl!"

"Yes sir."

"Anyway," Monogram said, leading Kid through the building. "You asked us why we need you. And the thing is, humans are our agents. Mindless animals _are _their cover up."

Kid blinked. "Then, how-"

"The book Karl."

Monogram held out his hand. In an instant a huge scrapbook was placed in his hand. He opened it up to the second page. From what Perry saw there were just a bunch of small snapshots of a bunch of rays. Really large ones. Most of them looked the same, but a lot of them were pretty uniquely built. Below each picture was an index card with a name and some sort of description. Then another name at the bottom of it.

"See this?" Monogram asked, pointing his finger at one of the machines. "This is a human-to-animal-inator. It was made by one of our evil scientists that joined our program. You zap a human with it and they turn in to animals. He said he did that because then he wouldn't have to deal with anyone else in lines or anything. Like in stores, for movies, a pretty mindless plan if you ask me."

Kid blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yes. And that's what nearly all our agents are. Most of them are all humans that got turned in to an animal. We do have those rare ones that are just super smart animals, like one of the pigs, dogs, and I think the cockatoo. Right Karl?"

"Yes sir. Agent P, D and C. They're all animals originally. The rest are all former humans."

Kid stared. "R-I, really?"

"Yes. Karl, the other book."

A second scrapbook was placed in Monogram's hand. This one was blue. On it was labeled, _Agents._ Monogram handed it to Kid, who opened it. The pages were lined from top to bottom with pictures of animals of all sorts. Cat, dog, tiger, cow, horse, eagle, mouse, lizard, beaver, pig, chicken, and of course there were more than one kind of animals, but you could see the difference in their fur or the pattern of their feathers or scales.

"These are all the records of agents that we've had. The ones that died have the red x's on the bottom of their index cards."

"Do all agents die in action?"

"No. Hardly any of them do really. We train them to peak condition. Most of them retire and die of old age."

Kid looked up, "So can you change them back?"

"They've never asked. The agents we've recruited weren't exactly normal people. Mercenaries, assassins, people of the secret service or FBI. . . There lives were so empty they decided they rather would live as an animal than a human."

"But I'm not any of those."

Monogram looked at him. "True. You are the youngest recruit we've ever considered, but you fought off all of our agents in the area easily like it was nothing. We know a real fighter when we see him."

"But could you change them back if they wanted to?"

"We don't know. We've never tried."

"The results could be catastrophic," Karl implied. "We'd need someone to make an 'animal-in-to-human-inator or something for that to happen."

Kid nodded, thinking. It wouldn't be bad living as an animal. It's not like he's ever lived as a human. "Do you get to choose?"

"Of course. For the ones who wanted something more outgoing, more independent, they chose wild animals. Such as Agent E and Agent W. They usually choose something they like. Agents who choose birds loved to fly just as ones who loved to swim chose whales or sharks or something like that. Agents who were in the army chose a wolf or a tiger. Something ferocious."

"What about the others?"

"For agents who are more inclined to the suburban life, they chose the smaller creatures, the more domestic ones. Cats, dogs, chickens. And since its a city the agents have a connection with the other agents of the area, and you always have backup if you need it. Agents in rural areas don't usually get backup; they have to tough it out until someone can get there. But that doesn't usually happen.

"And you can choose any animal?"

"Any. We just adjust the settings on the inator and you're all set," Karl informed, a small and encouraging smile on his face. Kid had a feeling he usually wore that expression.

Kid scratched behind his ear, thinking. He could see himself doing this. And it was for the greater good right? "So you stop evil scientists from destroying the world?"

"And usually taking out the tri-state area."

The boy continued scratching the back of his head, an itch on his neck bothering him. Another thought occurred to him, but it became difficult for him to voice it. "What, about. . ." he started, his face turning a strange bright red.

"What about what?" Monogram asked.

"Well, you know. . ." Kid trailed, avoiding eye contact.

Karl was the first to get it. "_Oh_!" He laughed.

Monogram, not as perceptive as Karl, turned to his assistant. "What? What is it?"

"Kid was wondering if the Agents," he cleared his throat, lowering his voice, "repopulate."

"Oh!" Monogram said, not as embarrassed about the subject. The pair found it rather cute that the kid was so embarrassed by the subject, showing how much of a child he still was. "Actually, Agent C is on maternity leave for a few months. Some of the agents choose to engage in that sort of activity with the other family pet sometimes, but most of the agents found it rather hard to have a real relationship with an animal that wasn't as smart as themselves. That's why most of our agents of the same breed usually get together. And that way they don't have to worry about their partner being used against them because they can take care of themselves."

_Personally I think a relationship would get in the way with the job, _Kid observed to himself.

They continued on, Kid asking questions here and there, Monogram taking time to explain them and Karl putting in inputs as well.

"So what do you think?" Monogram asked as they came to a grand room filled with awards to the agents. "Will you join us?"

Kid was silent. "It's a lot to take in."

"Yes, I suppose so. I must say it was a mystery when I first joined as well," Monogram chuckled.

"I have one more question though."

"What is it?"

"What's the point?"

"What's the point of what?"

"Turning them in to animals. Why not just keep them as humans?"

"Well, animals, physically, are much more capable of doing things that humans cannot do. They can squeeze through small areas, are usually stronger and faster with much sharper senses. And depending on the animal, they can hold their breath underwater longer, see better in it and are more agile in it. And obviously humans can't fly. Not only that but it costs us much less to make all of our equipment small animal size."

"Also as animals, its harder for the agents' nemesis to find out their secret identity, because most people can hardly tell one animal from the other. And this way the agents have a better excuse to not speak if their nemesis talks to them, demanding and trying to force them to talk."

Kid was starting to understand. "They can't speak?"

"They can talk to humans but usually choose not to. It keeps them in practice of keeping their mouth shut. It's a habit of talking all the time they have to break away from. It's hard to drop that after more than twenty years of that. And they get by fine with gestures and expressions fine," Karl explained patiently.

"So what do you say Kid? Will you join the team?" Monogram asked, hope in his voice.

Kid's eyes flickered between them. A part of him thought that they were absolutely insane, but he knew that they were telling the truth. And he had seen the agents himself, with their little fedoras and determined expressions.

"Do they like being animals?"

"None of them have said otherwise. I don't think they really liked being human in the first place," Monogram admit.

Kid toyed with an end of his hair, his brown eyes calculating. He dared to look up to the elder man. "May I have time to, consider your offer?"

"Of course. As long as you need," Monogram nodded. "Would you like to stay here for the night?"

"No. I'll walk home," Kid said, smiling gently. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I just need time to think about it."

"No problem. Come on Karl."

"Bye Kid!" Karl called, waving as he turned and walked briskly away with Monogram. Kid held up a hand in farewell, leaving it suspended in air for a few moments, words failing him as his mind went in a frenzy, thinking hard.

Oh what to do?

**Thanks for reading! Kid will make the decision tomorrow! :D at least I think he will X3 and this is kinda a warning. So my computer has been having problems, specifically with the chord that charges it, cuz it's malfunctioning a little. So it may happen that I won't have a new chapter up sometimes, only time can tell if it keeps working for me or not. Either that or I might have had a lazy writer day. And school starts tomorrow (today actually. I'm writing this as the night previous) so I wont have as much time to work on this story, but gym ends soon for the semester and i'll be able to bring my laptop to school and work on it when I have free period. Thanks for reading the long and boring writer's note! :D**


	8. Chapter 7: I See the Moon

Chapter 7: For a Swim

Kid left the building without any hassle. He paused, listening to the door lock as it clicked shut. For several moments, he stood in the dying sunlight, allowing it to soak in. The glamorous sky of bright orange and blinding yellow warmed him. Squinting his eyes against it, he took a step forward, and another, until he was walking. His heart picked up speed as he began to run, his skinny legs stretching out, not making a sound as he ran, skimming past countless people who paid him no heed. He ran to the bridge, stopping at its base. There he stopped, looking upriver, then downriver. Kid inhaled, exhaled. Inhale, exhale.

In a heartbeat's decision he broke in to a sprint along the river shore in the fastest pace he'd ever run before. His arms jerked back and forth as he ran, his legs stretching out as far as they would go to make him go faster. He leaped over a log not slowing down as he landed. The mud barely showed where his feet touched the ground and he didn't look back, only forward.

He stopped when he got to a lake.

His face was hot and red. Sweat dripped from his hair and down the side of his head. He breathed harshly, bending down and resting his hands against his knees. He looked weakly up to the shimmering lake, the moon reflected off of it from high above. It was full tonight, making the world a whole new color of grays and blacks.

Kid sat u and wiped his face, looking at the scene more. It was beautiful.

The river was gentle here, pouring in smoothly. Further down the lake there was a small stream leading out of the lake, going further downriver. Kid walked down to the water, kneeling down and stretching his hand to the water. It was refreshingly cool against his boiled hot skin. Maybe he could go for a little swim.

_Should I take off all my clothes? No one's around. _He looked across the length of the small lake. It was hardly worth calling a lake. He could probably swim the length of the way without getting too tired. It was a glimmering dark blue in the night atmosphere. Crickets chirped nearby with owls hooting in the close distance. Nobody but the animals were around. But still. . .

Kid stripped off his shirt,deciding to leave his pants on, and tossing the shirt on to a branch nearby. He stretched his arms out in front of him before treading in to the water. When he was waist deep he dived in to the water, taking a gulp of air before he was engulfed. He opened his eyes, swimming down through the reeds and seaweed. It tickled his swim as he paddled past, reaching in front of him and moving him forward with a little bit of momentum.

He came up for air a minute or two later, only a small distance from shore. He blinked away the water, settling in to the lake as he floated on his back. He'd never felt so relaxed and peaceful. Thoughts continued to swim in his mind. Should he become an animal, leave humanity behind to bring justice to evil scientists?

Kid sighed. It was definitely a big decision, and there was a lot to gain, but much to lose equally.

An owl soared overhead, silent as the stars with him. What did Kid have to live for as a human anyway? He couldn't live the rest of his life how it had been. He had to grow up one day. Ebony was dead anyway. He still had his friends, and he knew that they were safe and okay where they were at, though he wished better for them. He wouldn't have a future as a human anyway. He had no education up through his life. He couldn't read, let alone learn math or anything like that.

The boy turned on to his stomach to begin slowly swimming towards the other side of the shore. He didn't want to go to work either when he grew up. He'd have to get a haircut, wear nice clothes and sit at a computer all day. All the jobs out there were lame, but a secret agent animal who fought evil scientists daily? It would be so cool! Never boring, never have to wear anything fancy (from what he saw all they had to wear was a hat) and you could just relax after you were done fighting them! It'd be so perfect!

Kid smiled to himself, imagining himself as an animal. The picture in his head was blurred, like he couldn't see it yet. What animal would he even be? Something cool, rare, different. An animal that was unexpected and new.

He sighed internally, adjusting his body to see if he was close enough to shore to touch the bottom. His toes brushed against sand. He crawled to the shallower stretch of the shore and collapsed on to it, rolling over so he could look up at what visible stars were there. The moon blocked out most of them with its bright light.

A strange feeling of peace swept through Kid like a brush of wind. He recalled a song he heard a long time ago, overhearing it from a girl that he had been following from school. She was pretty, with her long and wavy dark hair that was at the will of the wind. No one else was around. Kid had been jumping from tree to tree in the neighborhood in the branches above her like a squirrel. She was completely unaware of him. He hadn't expected her to sing.

_Singing I see the moon_

_The moon sees me_

_The moon sees the one that_

_I wanna see._

_God bless the moon_

_And God bless me_

_And God bless the one _

_I'm longing to see_

Kid sang this song, his voice soft and gentle. It went out through the forest. All of the animals stilled. The forest was silent for those small seconds, and when he stopped, those moments stretched out forever. It was a few moments after he quieted his voice when the usual nightly stirrings continued on.

It was the first and the last song that Kid would sing as a human.

He swam back to the shore, gathering a bunch of leaves and grasses before pulling his shirt and and sleeping on his makeshift bed. As he went to sleep, a thought echoed in his mind.

_I know what I have to do now. _

**This is a song called 'I See the Moon' by Chris Rice. Its the most beautiful song in the world go look it up on youtube! do this and THEN send me a review about the story/song. Then listen to some of his other songs, cuz he's awesome, and an optimist, which is something we all need in these hard times. :D if you tell me you did the youtube thing, you are like, the awesomeest person in da world. :D**

**sorry the chapter was uber short. I'll work on that. Bl**


	9. Chapter 8: Platywhat?

**WARNING: i have to make a scarf for a friend cuz her birthday is coming up. It's in like more than a month (Feb) but i want to get it done NOW so i can just relax when her birthday comes along i'll know I'm covered and also if i get it done i'll have more time to focus on THIS STORY without being side-tracked. cuz as i write this note i've already finished typing up chapter 10. :3 so chapter 9 will not be up until monday or possibly sunday if i finish the scarf on saturday. thank you for your patience and support! :D**

Chapter 8: Platy-what?

Kid blinked his eyes awake to the familiar coat of dew layering him. With his mind half awake he stretched out a hand for his towel, but only getting a handful of sand. He gave a little groan, sitting up, poking his mind at what had happened that night.

Ah, that's right. He spent the night at the lake.

Kid allowed himself to move his eyes around his surroundings, scanning the lake. There were raccoon prints in the mud with later deer tracks with it. The sleepy Kid rubbed his eyes, spying a fox a little ways off fishing for breakfast.

More important though was the orange striped tabby approaching Kid. A brown 1940's fedora sat atop his head.

_An agent, _Kid thought. As the cat approached, he gave a salute to Kid, who already had his hand up the same time the cat had his paw. The feline lowered it with a respective smirk on his face. In one fluid motion he swept his hat off and bowed to Kid, then straightened, adjusting his hat comfortably. He nodded to Kid, who decided it was time for him to speak up. "So what are you doing here?"

The cat made the 'I'm watching you' motion towards Kid.

"You have to watch me?"

He nodded.

"How long have you been looking for me?"

The cat made a C shape with his paw and arced it above his head from one side to the other.

"All night?" Kid guessed.

The cat nodded.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't know you were going to be needing to follow me. If I had I would have waited for you to make your job easier."

The agent shrugged nonchalantly. There were harder jobs out there he had to attend to. This had been pretty simple.

"Are you here to check if I'll make the deal?" asked Kid.

The cat nodded again.

"I'll be off to the building pretty soon I think," Kid told him. "We should probably be leaving soon anyway."

The cat had no response to this, just nodded.

"What's your name?" Kid decided to question.

The cat pointed to his hat, then made the C shape with his paw.

"Agent C?"

A nod.

Kid furrowed his brow, "No, I mean your _real _name."

Agent C grew stiff for a moment, then gave the smallest shake of his head. Kid understood. The agents didn't really like talking about their real names then. "I get it," he said, "top secret right?"

Agent C gave a knowing smile to Kid, who returned it, giving him a curt nod. "If it's any consolation I don't really use my real name that much either. It's easier for me though knowing that I have no idea what my name is."

A purr came out of the furry agent. Kid stood to his feet. "We better get going then."

As the pair set out, the orange tabby turned his head to look up at Kid, a question lingering in his eyes. Curious and polite.

"No I don't have anywhere I need to be. Do you want to go stop somewhere for breakfast though?"

Agent C shook his head and tipped his hat to Kid. _No thanks I already had breakfast _was the answer that lingered in the agent's eyes.

Kid replied with an innocent and silent shrug. He better get in practice of not talking too.

They reached the agency in a few minutes. After they entered the building Agent C accompanied and guided him to a room that Kid had been in yesterday, just a normal meeting room. Monogram and Karl were waiting for them.

"Good morning Kid!" the teen said, smiling and giving a wave.

"Good morning Karl," Kid answered in return, smiling back.

"I see Agent C reached you. That's good. It looks like you get along well."

"I guess so." Kid reached his arm down where Agent C gave him a fist pump.

"We don't need to worry about formalities right now. Have you decided yet?"

"Yeah I'll join. I'll be an agent."

Karl let out a sigh. "Good. We looked over your records -what records you do have at least- and all that's found on you is that you've ran away from every home the officials tried to put you in, and that you've been known to fight."

"Yeah. . ." was all Kid said.

"Here's a book of animals," Monogram said, handing Kid the scrapbook. "Choose whichever one you like."

There were labels on the animal groups. Birds, mammals, reptiles, aquatic, flight, land, carnivore, omnivore and herbivore. He looked through aquatic, but all of them were water only. Between the non-aquatic tab and the aquatic tab was the 'semi aquatic' label. Kid narrowed his eyes as he flipped to that page.

It was definitely not as big as the other groups. It was only one page for both sides. Kid scanned through the pictures of the animals, turning over the next page. They all looked like just normal animals, just with a label that made them 'semi aquatic'.

But there was something that caught his eye.

At the bottom corner was an animal with dark brown fur like a mammal, but it had a duck bill and back feet with a beaver tail. There was no label under it. Was it a mammal or some sort of mutated bird?

"What, is that?" Kid asked, mesmerized by the strange creature.

Karl leaned over Kid, a small smile on his face. "That's a platypus. They're native to Australia. They're endangered, I think."

Kid only paid attention to the first sentence. "A platy-what?"

Karl laughed. "Yeah that's what I thought too when I first learned about them. They're semi aquatic mammals, and they're the only mammals that lay eggs. They eat bugs mostly. And shrimp I think."

"Has any agent chosen a platypus?" Kid asked.

"Never," Karl said, wondering if Kid really was considering this. Kid wouldn't really want this would he? He would be the only platypus agent out there. What if he wanted to fall in love one day? Not now but later definitely. He couldn't do that with a platypus cover-up. He'd get really lonely. "Are you . . .?"

"I want that," Kid decided instantly.

Karl's eyes widened. "Um, are you sure about that Kid? What if . . .?"

"What if what?" Kid interrupted, a slightly angry look in his mahogany eyes. "I don't see anything wrong with being a platypus."

"But," Karl began to protest quietly, thinking of Kid's best interest, "when you get older you might want to find someone you want to share your life with, and when that time comes, if you're a platypus, you won't be able to find any agents who are platypus's. You'd get really lonely."

Kid wrinkled his face. "Love? With girls and stuff? Ew. They're gross. Why would I ever want to be with a girl?"

Karl grew silent. He knew what it was like to be single and lonely. It wasn't a good feeling. He didn't want anyone to feel like that, especially Kid after all he'd been through.

"So this is your choice?" he asked, patiently. He sighed quietly to himself.

"Yeah. I want to be a platypus," Kid said, smiling.

Karl tried to return the smile, but it faltered. "Come on then."

(**)

Agent C accompanied Kid to the room Karl took them to. It looked a lot like a hospital room. There was an IV in the corner, a heart monitor turned off, and a computer next to a hospital bed. Standing in the room was Monogram. "Let's get started," he said. "Go get the machine ready Karl."

"Right away sir." Karl sped away through the halls and out of Kid's sight.

"Agent C. I didn't know you were here. Are you here to watch?"

Agent C nodded, then reached up to pat Kid's back in an encouraging way.

"Ah, I see. Go ahead and get comfortable. Kid, go ahead and get on that bed. We'll get going any second now."

Kid sat on the bed. A doctor came in and took his blood, tested his eyesight, hearing and smell, then hurried away. While they waited, Monogram spoke up. "What did you decide on?"

"A platypus."

"That's a rare one. And you're sure about that?"

"Yup."

"Okay then. It's your decision."

"Sir? We're ready," Karl's voice spoke over the intercom.

"Ah, good work Karl. Kid, if you would please get on the bed, we'll begin."

Kid moved his body so he was resting vertically along the bed. Agent C came up and wrapped soft cuffs around his ankles and wrists.

"These are adjustable straps," Monogram informed. "They adjust to whatever size your wrist is. We use them in case something goes wrong in the process of changing any of the recruits."

Kid felt a brief flash of hesitation. "Has there ever been something that goes wrong?"

"No."

There was a relieved sense as Kid let out a sigh. He leaned back his head on the pillow, cracking an eye to look over at Agent C, who was standing on a stool at the side of the bed. His brown eyes glittered worriedly, but with a sense of protection in them too. Agent C nodded at him, a smirk curling up his face.

_It'll be okay, _his gaze reassured him. Kid relaxed a little and tightened his hand, his nails digging a little into his palm. Agent C placed his paw on Kid's hand. Like all cats, Agent C could tell that Kid was nervous. Who wouldn't be nervous if you were about to be turned in to a whole new being? _I'll be right here, _the feline's eyes said.

"Okay Karl. We're ready in here," Monogram said.

"Got it sir."

"Will it hurt?" Kid whispered so only Agent C could hear.

The cat shook his head, then pinched kid's hand gently. Just a little hurt, but not enough that it was worth mentioning.

The wall facing Kid moved aside, revealing a huge machine, the inator. Kid licked his lips and swallowed, closing his eyes. But he felt foolish for doing this, so he opened his eyes. At the corner of his vision he saw Monogram widen his eyes, "And go," the man said.

There was a flash of neon green light. A rush flashed up through Kid's body like an electric shock, but it didn't hurt. It all happened in a moment, jump starting his heart and making it beat in a frenzy. Everything seemed to slow down. Somewhere he heard a heart monitor flatline, and Monogram screaming at Karl what was going on.

It all blurred after that.

**A big thanks to Hatsu Yukiya, cuz she's the one who drew me two pics of Kid, and he looks SO ADORABLE! so thanks hatsu! :D **

**question: how do you guys like Agent C? Readers who read Father know who he is, so it's nice to bring him back isn't it? In a way, this is almost like a Father prequel, but not really you know? :3 so tell me how you like him and what you like and don't like about him so I can work better if something needs to be changed :D **


	10. Chapter 9: Change

**finished the scarf this morning so here ya go. :3**

**PLOTHOLE: ugh i hate these. so remember Doof said that he'd get a nemesis in a week? well i lied. its actually going to be like, a year and a half. so i'm gonna go back and change that. sorry! x(**

Chapter 9: Change

_Okay this is definitely not the OWCA._

Kid sat up, looking around. He was in a seemingly endless field with luscious green grass, littered with summer flowers. The sun was blurred overhead, and instead of a blue sky, it was like a white haze. Somewhere the boy could hear rushing water, but not as big as a river.

He looked over himself. He was still a human. But he felt different. His skin was washed clean, his hair silky smooth and the clothes he wore were crisp with a new feeling to it. He was still barefooted though.

The boy stood up, taking in the smell of the place. Like honey and flowers, the way spring or summer would smell like. It was a good smell. He loved it.

_Man, I wouldn't mind staying here, _Kid thought to himself.

"_You can't stay here boy." _

"What? Who is that?" Kid demanded, instantly on the alert. He whipped around, finding no one.

"_Peace child. This is a safe place," _the voice continued. "_All things will be clear in time, but you do not belong here, not yet. Go back."_

"Where? Go back where?" Kid asked.

"_Peace child," _they repeated. _"This is not a place for violence. You will find no violence here. Go to the west, away from the sound of the water. There you will find a bridge built over a dead creek. Cross it. You will go home."_

"But it's so nice here!" Kid complained.

"_Either way, you don't belong here. Go now, before it is too late."_

Grudgingly, Kid turned and walked away from the sound of the water until it was gone. He kept walking until he came to what the voice said would be there. It was a huge bridge over a crevice. In the crevice where a rushing river should have been was only a small stream of water, almost not worth being called a river.

Kid walked on to the sloped stone bridge, each step making him feel colder and colder. He hadn't hesitated to go over the bridge, but he did when he got to the last step. He looked longingly back over his shoulder to that place. It was amazing. He didn't want to leave.

_I have to go, _he reminded himself. _I need to become an agent, don't I? And she said I'll come back._

Knowing this, Kid took a step forward on to the dry and dead land that was on this side of the bridge. When his foot made contact with the hard land, an electric rush of electricity jolted up his foot to his chest. He gasped and keeled over, clutching his heart. A faded voice called out, "Clear!"

The same feeling flashed up through him. Kid screamed. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes, he wasn't where he had been. He had returned to the hospital room. A doctor was leaning over him holding shock paddles. Relief shone in her eyes. "Heart rate normal," an unseen doctor announced.

"Kid! Kid are you okay?" Karl asked, running up to Kid's bedside. Monogram stood over him.

The boy nodded, his vision slowly returning. "Yeah I'm fine. What happened?"

"Your heart stopped for three minutes. You gave us quite a scare. Do you feel all right?"

"Yeah I'm fine," he mumbled. Talking felt weird, like something was missing. He placed a hand on his forehead. Ugh his head hurt.

"We've never had a kid recruit before. The adjustments on the machine weren't right. It had a different affect on you because you're a child and you're not at your full potential physically yet like the adults that we've recruited," Monogram explained.

Kid nodded, exhaustion overwhelming him. He leaned back his head, falling asleep before he had even closed his eyes.

(**)

When Kid awoke hours later, it was morning. Fresh sunlight was filtering in through the window, warming the room and the boy in it.

The door to his room opened. Kid turned his head. Agent C walked in and jumped up on to the bed. Karl and Monogram followed him in to the room. "Good morning Kid," Karl said, smiling. "You've had a successful transformation. Would you like to see yourself?"

Kid looked at his arm, widening his eyes in a sort of shocked joy. His arm was furry and blue. He smiled broadly and stood up, looking over himself. His feet were flat duck feet, his body lean and blue. He moved his paws over his smooth bill, a smile forming on his face. He turned his head to look behind him to find a flat tail trailing on the bed. It was like a soft creamy color. Curious, Kid reached a paw forward, feeling its texture. _This is so. . . weird, but amazing at the same time. _He looked to his friends. Words failed him. He didn't know what to say.

Karl just smiled. Monogram had a tearful expression in his face. Karl noticed. "Sir, are you crying?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm sweating through my eyes!" Monogram defended. Karl and Kid exchanged a smile.

"Anyway," Monogram cleared his throat, "Agent C is going to take part in your training as a platypus to help teach you how to properly fight a full grown human who's taller than you since there's such a huge height difference. Once you complete your training we'll assign you to your nemesis and to you host family."

"Host family?" Kid questioned.

"They're your undercover," Karl put in. "You'll live there with your host family living as a normal pet."

Kid titled his head in an animal way. "Why would anyone adopt a platypus?" He had thought that he would be living by the lake somewhere, or bunking here at the OWCA.

"It's worth a shot," Monogram concluded. "Your training will start tomorrow with Agent C. He'll take you to your room while you're here. Your room will always be here in case your identity is ever compromised. Also, you'll be staying in the same room with Agent C. Is that okay?"

Kid glanced over to Agent C, who nodded at him subtly. "It's okay," Kid said.

"Then we'll be off. Good luck Agent C, although I don't think you'll need it."

They left. Kid turned to Agent C, who nudged him playfully. The feline was taller than him by about a head, an animal head that is. Kid assumed he was still a young platypus and would get taller as time passed.

Agent C nodded towards the door. _Follow me. _

Kid was about to started walking after Agent C standing vertically, but the cat whipped around and eased him on to all fours. The training seemed to begin now. _You have to learn how to walk on all fours first, _Kid could imagine him saying.

"Why?"

Agent C placed a finger over his mouth to silence him.

"It's just us. Can't you talk?"

A flicker of stubbornness was in the cat's eyes but he finally hissed out, "Fine! But only for now, since you're in training."

"Oh good," Kid relaxed a little. He was getting tired of guessing games. "So why do I have to learn to walk like an animal?"

"Well for starters you _are _one," Agent C told him. "You can run faster too if you're on all fours, you can jump higher and when you don't walk on your backpaws it makes you quieter when you walk. This makes it easier to sneak up on your nemesis if you want to go for a sneak attack. Not only that but it's better for our backs. And it's good to trick your enemy in to thinking that you're just a normal mindless animal. The second an evil scientist sees you on your back paws, it's over and your identity is compromised, thus concluding the first lesson: _never let your identity be revealed. Never _draw attention to yourself in public. Now there are some informants around the city, so it's okay if they see you. They're there for your safety in case something would ever go wrong."

Kid stared blankly, processing this huge speech from the orange cat. He sat down like a normal animal. "Okay." He moved his back foot forward to scratch behind his neck. Kid tilted his head as his foot got in the right position. "This feels good. I've always wanted to do this."

The cat rolled his eyes. "Newbies."

Kid stopped and put his foot back in it's proper place. "What I can't have five seconds to get used to what I am now?"

Agent C looked annoyed, but he didn't respond. He adjusted his hat. "Come on."

The cat turned around and walked away (on all fours). Kid could see his fur was bristling. He felt a little guilty at making his mentor so angry. Agent C was his teacher, he should probably show a little bit of respect towards him.

Kid scuttled after him (on all fours mind you), trying to adjust. He walked alongside his mentor. The cat who used to look so small now seemed huge. The cat looked down. "Finally decided to join me?"

"Haha," the kid platypus said. He staggered as he walked, his tail trailing on the ground, accidentally bumping in to Agent C. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Try lifting your tail up a little so it doesn't touch the ground," his senior advised. Kid looked at the cat, who's tail was poised perfectly in the air. "It'll be a little easier. And you'll get used to it. You'll keep your balance too."

Kid lifted his tail a little so it was barely touching the ground. "It won't make any noise either if you keep it aloft, especially when fighting with your nemesis. Some try to use our tails as a disadvantage to us, but we can easily use it as a weapon against them. Like mine can act as an arm and grab something to help me escape from a trap. Since yours isn't as flexible as that, you can probably use it to slap him and to keep your back watched. I'd suspect it would hurt to be slapped with it."

Kid wiggled his tail feebly. It was weird to suddenly have a tail. "I'm not sure. It's not that strong."

"You'll get stronger," the cat reassured. "Soon you'll be shocked at how much stronger you will get. You'll be able to do things that you could never do as a human. Here we are."

The cat turned to the right suddenly. Kid followed him, his feet slapping the ground a little too loudly. He'd have to work on that too.

The room was small, as was the door. The mini bunkbeds were much smaller than the bed he used to sleeping in.

"You're smaller so you can take the top," Agent C told him.

"Agent C?" Kid asked.

"Yeah?"

"How can you train me during the day when you've got your nemesis to fight with?"

"Oh, he was sent an email saying I was busy with other duties for a while, so he has to wait to build anything evil until I can return. Training new recruits is a big part of the process as being an agent. And we don't get many new recruits."

Kid looked up at his mentor, "How long do we get to live exactly?"

"Normal age any human would, around seventy five." Agent C sat down and began licking his paw distractedly.

"Why did you choose to be a cat?"

The cat looked at him. "I had a cat when I was a child. He was killed by a car, and as a kid you know its traumatizing when your pet dies. I guess that stayed with me. And I've always liked cats." He looked at Kid. "What made you decide to be a platypus of all things?"

"I don't know. They're just cool. And they're semi-aquatic."

"You could have chosen like a fishing cat or something."

"But a platypus is just so _unique,_" he tried to explain.

The cat shrugged. "To he his own, or something like that. Now come on let's go to the training room. We need to work on building your strength immediately."

(**)

It was near sunset by the time Kid and Agent C finished working in the gym all day, which was just basically a huge obstacle room with monkey bars, ropes to climb and stuff like that. There was even a place for the aquatic (and semi-aquatic) to work in, but Agent C told him that they'd work on that later. Today they were focusing on basic stuff, like running and jumping. _Then _they'd move on to the fun stuff.

Kid walked alongside Agent C, his muscles a little sore and tiredness nipping at him. "So what do animal agents have for dinner?"

"Depending on your species of animal. I get a choice of fish, cat food or small mammals. I prefer fish, and when I do, I make sure I'm not eating with the Agent F team."

"Agent what?"

"Agent Fish."

Kid stared. "So Monogram just gives us our agent title based and an animal we are?"

"Yep."

"So I'll be Agent P?" he guessed.

"Most likely," Agent C concluded.

"Will I be on a team?"

"Probably not. There are teams here and there, and we fight in a team sometimes if there's a huge threat that can only be accomplished with all agents on hand, or a good amount of them to defeat the enemy."

Kid and Agent C entered the cafeteria. There weren't many agents in there. A brown dog, and a raccoon. Kid assumed Agent D and Agent R were there assigned names.

"Now listen, there's two rules that is always applied with talking to other agents in normal lingo like this," Agent C said seriously, looking right in Kid's eyes. He held up his paw, "Never ask them about their cover up family. And never, _ever _ask them what their fake, or previous name was."

Kid nodded seriously too. "Why not?"

"We just don't. Don't ask who or what they did for a living either."

"Do you know what they were and what their names were?"

"Yes, but only because we were recruited as agents together. But do you understand?"

Kid nodded. Seeing he was serious, Agent C nodded. Kid got a tray of shrimp and crawfish, while Agent C took some canned cat food. "It grows on you," he said. _(haha platypus's don't always just eat bugs! I DID do my research! :D) _They started walking and they continued to the small table, standing up on their backfeet. They all tipped hats to each other, except for Kid, obviously. The pair of unknown agents gave Kid curious looks. When they sat down, Agent C cleared his throat, "Guys, this is Kid. He's my apprentice for now."

"Ah a new recruit," the raccoon said. He picked at his fruit, looking over Kid with raised raccoon eyebrows. "So what's your name Kid?"

"Kid," the platypus said. "For now anyway." He didn't feel really shy around older people. He grew up without any shyness. You couldn't risk being shy living with a bunch of homeless people and having to show that you were strong enough to take care of yourself, even if you hadn't hit puberty yet.

"'Kid?'" the raccoon asked. He had a sly voice, but Kid could hear honesty in it as well. Polite curiosity, with a hint of mischievousness. Expected from a stalker of the night. "That's your name?"

"Yeah so what's yours?" Kid asked, pushing aside the rule that Agent C had given him. From the corner of his eyes he saw Agent C glare at him darkly.

The raccoon held gazes with Kid, the mammal's bright eyes watchful. At last he gave out a laugh. "Haha I like this kid!" The dog laughed with him. The raccoon reached over the table and gave the platypus a bump on the shoulder with his fist. "You got guts kid. That'll save you one day."

"Or it could completely screw you," the dog said, finding his voice. He looked at Kid. "Be careful kid. Bravery is a trait that is over-valued in its usefulness, but cautiousness is sometimes even more important. Remember that."

Kid nodded at the dog, a way of saying thank you.

"I'm RJ," the raccoon said, reaching a paw forward. It was curled in to a fist. Kid bumped it as the dog spoke up, holding out his own fist. "And I'm Brown."

_Pet names assigned from the host owners, _Kid guessed intuitively.

"Is Kid really your real name?" asked Brown.

"It's the only name I know," Kid shrugged. "I was found on the streets so for a while I was just called John Doe."

"So how'd you end up here?" RJ asked, chewing on a sliced piece of banana. "Cuz when we got recruited we weren't as small as you are."

"I'm going to get bigger you know," Kid muttered a little frostily. "And when did you get here anyway?"

"Dunno, a couple of years?"

"_What? _The way you led me on was that I thought you've been here for like _years!" _he accused Agent C.

"We _have_ been here years. Two is more than one. Are you deaf?" he asked.

"No, but-"

"Just answer the question Kid. How'd you get here?"

Kid shrugged his shoulders, deciding it was about time he ate. "I don't know. I've fought a lot and I guess they thought about recruiting me."

"So how old are you?" RJ questioned suspiciously.

"Thirteen, I think."

"Wait!" Brown spoke up, eyes wide. "You're that kid! Y-You're that blue haired kid!"

"Um, I guess?"

"Wait!" RJ spoke up, turning to Brown and Agent C. "The kid who totally kicked all of your butts?"

"I wouldn't say that. . ." Agent C muttered.

RJ broke in to laughter. Tears fell from his eyes. "Oh my gosh! You got beaten by a shrimp!" RJ wiped his eyes. "You're not half bad kid."

"I'm not a shrimp," Kid said in defense.

"You are what you eat."

Kid smirked and continued to eat. RJ and Brown spoke to Kid eagerly, wanting to learn more about him. Overall dinner went by great.

Kid didn't see it, but as Agent C was eating, there was a smile on his face.

**the land with the bridges and stuff has meaning. like the water in the river symbolizes something. :3 ikr? how deep of a writer am i? its super easy to figure out what they are. if you can figure it out cookies for you! :D **


	11. Chapter 10: Training and Graduation

Chapter 10: Training and Graduation

Kid trailed after his teacher eagerly, a bit more of a spring in his step. The pair had just finished dinner and were heading off down a hallway alone. "So where are we going now?"

"To bed. We need our rest for tomorrow. Don't worry we'll be doing a lot of training."

Kid slumped his shoulders a little. He wasn't really ready to go to bed, but he was tired. His muscles still ached.

"I was surprised RJ and Brown would take to you so fast. They really like you, for a kid," Agent C told the young platypus.

"I'm glad. They're nice."

Agent C nodded. "Yeah they're good guys." They were walking on all of their paws now. Kid followed the scent that he knew was Agent C's and jumped ahead of him, entering the right room. Without hesitating he climbed up to the top bunk and settled comfortably in to it. Agent C came in more slowly, placing his hat on a stand shaped like a head. He went to his own bed, settling down rather quickly.

After a few moments when Agent C had finished getting comfortable in that long way cats do, Kid spoke quietly, "Agent C?"

"Yeah?" the cat asked, his voice slightly muffled.

Kid felt a little uncertain if he should be asking this. "What's your name? Like, not your human name, but, your fake name."

The cat was silent and as still as a rock. "Go to sleep Kid. We've got a big day tomorrow."

Feeling guilty, Kid rolled over and went to sleep. His last thought: _Ugh now I feel like crap._

Kid slept in with Agent C until ten. He was awakened by Agent C saying, "Rise and shine kiddo. We'll head to get something to eat for brunch then it's back to training."

So Kid got up, ate brunch, trained, ate dinner, then went to bed. This routine went on for a couple weeks. Agent C said he was exemplary in fighting, and he wouldn't expect anything else from him. Kid loved getting praise from Agent C. It felt good. Agent C was a great mentor. He explained everything and was firm and patient. Kid couldn't have asked for anyone else.

And as the weeks passed, Kid got stronger. He didn't grow much, but he got stronger. He was able to run faster, swim better, hold his breath longer, he felt like superman, but a platypus, and not an alien.

"Kid, Kid. Come on get up," Agent C whispered one night, his voice low.

"Wh-What?" Kid mumbled. He looked at the clock. "Ah come on its like midnight. I wanna sleep. He tried to settle more in to his bed."

"We're going on a field trip. Now get out of bed before I make you."

"You can't make me do anything," Kid mumbled, feeling sleep beginning to return back to him.

Out of nowhere Kid became aware of falling out of bed on to the hard floor. He let loose a groan, rubbing his head. "Come _on._ What was that for?" Agent C had tipped his hammock bed.

"When I say we're going, I say we're going. Are you awake now?" The cat was putting his hat on.

"Well I am _now._"

"Good. Let's go."

Kid followed Agent C out of the room, on all fours. It was a requirement as the cat's apprentice that whenever they were going to training, they would walk like this. Kid thought of it as marching, though not as strict. "Where are we going?" he whispered.

"You'll see," the cat said vaguely.

"You emptied me out of bed like a rock. You can at least tell me where we're going."

"Patience is a virtue young padawan."

"Geek," Kid muttered.

"The fact you know what that means proves you saw it too," Agent C bantered quietly.

"They had a free movie night at the library okay?"

Agent C laughed softly. Kid followed him as they went outside. The cool night air felt good on his fur as they trekked around the building of the OWCA, leading to the backyard. Agent C passed in through a dog-door with Kid following him.

Before him was a huge backyard with things he assumed were for more training.

Trees everywhere, a pond, and there were two domes that were seperate. One was like a snow wonderland and the other was like a desert wasteland, designed for training in different mission conditions.

"This is the outdoor training sight," Agent C whispered, walking up to the pond where he sat on a flat stone overlooking the large pool of water. Kid sat alongside him. "Today, you're going to learn to hunt. I requested for them earlier to dump some live fish, shrimp and stuff in here, stuff that platypus's usually eat."

"What for?" Kid asked as the feline crouched over the pool.

"As former humans, we didn't have animal mothers to teach us to do this, so we have to teach ourselves. Lucky for you, I know a few things, but they won't be as helpful to you since you have your own way of getting things."

"How so?" Kid asked.

"Well you _do _have claws on your paws and back paws, for digging I assume, but they could probably be used for fishing too. And of course you have your bill. You can use that for sensing anything in the mud below that's worth going for. I think you can use it to dig too. It's a pretty useful tool."

Kid shrugged, looking down in to the water at his reflection. Without hesitating he dived in to the water.

A couple hours later, Kid and Agent C sat together eating what Kid had caught. It had taken a few tries but he started to catch on to what he had to do.

"Agent C?" Kid asked.

"Mhmm?" the cat was happily finishing off a prawn.

Kid felt uncertain, "What _is _your real name? Like, you don't have to tell me your human name, but, it'd be easier to know your fake name, if you want."

The cat's fur bristled, only slightly however. Kid watched cautiously, eyes wary. Agent C lifted his eyes to meet him, and he let out a long sigh. At first Kid thought he was going to refuse him, but then he said, "Chester. My name is Chester. And you don't need to bother asking my human name, because that's what it is."

"Your owner named you what you really were?"

"No," the cat answered. "For a while he called me Sun. Sometimes he called me Sunny. And he wasn't _just _an owner. He was a friend."

Kid sat up, walking up to Agent C, planting himself next to him and wrapping his flat tail around him like his mentor did. "'_Was'_?"

He sighed. "One day my nemesis found out who my owner was. He went after him, of course, and I had to reveal my identity to save him. My owner called me Chester after that, which was for fifteen minutes. Then the officials showed up and relocated me to a different host family."

"They'll do that?" Kid was appalled it had actually happened.

He shrugged. "There wasn't any other option. Staying with my owner would only cause risk to the OWCA, myself, and him. I couldn't do that, and I couldn't ask _him _to do that."

"But aren't your new host family worried about you after all these weeks?"

"Oh, I haven't been introduced yet. I will after you finish your training though, which will be soon I assume. And you know, I think you have started growing."

The cat looked down proudly at his student, his soft orange tail flicking against Kid in a friendly way. Kid smiled up at his mentor, who turned away to stand up. "Enough training for tonight. Let's go to bed."

"Will we come back?" Kid asked, a bit of sleepiness coming back to him.

"Of course. There's still things I have yet to teach you," the cat purred.

Kid smiled.

More weeks came and went. July arrived, heating the tri-state area with a full blow of summer heat. It was July first, with the fourth soon approaching. Flags littered the streets and hung from stores in respect for their country.

Kid felt like he would die of excitement, and Chester looked like he would burst with pride.

Today was the day Kid would be accepted in to the ranks of the agents. He was still a shrimp of course, but he knew that he was going to be fourteen soon. Ebony had told him before that he came to her on a hot July day while fireworks lit up the sky. Since then he'd always thought of that day as his birthday.

"Are you ready?" the cat asked quietly in the large room. All the agents of the city were there for the ceremony with their fedora's on their heads. Kid's was the only one that was bare.

"I think so," Kid answered quietly, his heart fluttering like a bird's.

Chester flicked his tail over Kid's frame, "You'll do fine. You've been a good student, my first actually. I think I did a pretty good job. But after this I go back to not talking, I'm starting to get used to that."

"Good. I'm starting to get sick of your chatter," Kid teased.

The tabby purred in laughter. He sat on stage with Kid, looking out over the agents. Brown and RJ were sitting in the front row with party hats over their agent hats, laughing and talking with some of their friends who were able to show up.

"You'll go in to the real world soon," Chester whispered low enough so only Kid could hear. "Don't forget everything I taught you."

"Never," Kid promised.

Chester smiled in that cat way, turning his attention to Monogram near the center of the stage as he walked up to the podium. All of the animal chatter died away. "Welcome agents of Danville. I've called you all here today to bring a new agent in to our ranks. He's gone through his training by Agent C, and he tells me that he is ready to join us."

Cheers erupted from all the animals as different sounds came up. An eagle in the back let out a wild cry. Brown and RJ were the loudest though, making sure Kid could hear their shouts of motivational wisdom, "Don't trip when you walk up there Squirt!"

Kid tried not to laugh as Monogram called up him. He walked on his back legs to his superior, his small legs carrying him to the major. Silence stilled over the crowd as Kid stopped in front of Monogram. His voice carried out over the room. A dropping pin would have sounded like a crack of thunder. "Kid, do you promise to follow the code of the OWCA agents, to defeat all that is evil and to never falter your loyalty towards them?"

"Yes," Kid's voice came out clear and sure over the crowd.

Monogram looked pleased. Karl, standing a little way off was smiling with tears in his own eyes. Of course he was only sweating through his eyes so it was no big deal.

"Then it is with pride that I name you Agent P of the OWCA." Monogram placed a fedora on Kid's head. But not just any fedora. _His _fedora. _Just _like Chester's, but it was darker, the exact color of his auburn eyes with a band of black going around it.

Agent P bowed courteously. He could practically feel Chester filling up with more and more pride. Hoots and calls erupted from the crowd as he straightened himself. He could hear Karl screaming encouragement too. Agents D and R made sure their presence known.

But there was only one person Agent P was thinking about. He turned his head to look at his beaming mentor. Chester looked like he really _was _going to burst. Kid walked up to him and gave him a hug around his neck. The cat returned it, whispering, "I wish you peace and safety Agent P."

"And you as well Chester, especially with your new host owners. And thank you, for everything," Agent P murmured in response. He gave his mentor another squeeze of thanks before pulling away. Chester was purring audibly now. Perry looked over, going swamped in to the hugs and congratulations from his other friends.

He was an agent at last.

**Chapter 10 at last. It feels like I only just started chapter 1! This chapter though was da BOMB! :D I feel successful as a writer for this chapter. The ending was like super duper epic. **

**HATSU YUKIYA! DRAW ME A PICTURE OF CHESTER AS A HUMAN! 8D**

**I hope you guys really like the story cuz I am just BURSTING with story ideas. Its absolutely insane you guys are gonna be stuck with me for a while. Cuz if Father took like, 26 chapters think how long THIS is gonna be. Perry isn't even living with his family yet. (that will happen next chapter tho I promise) . . . or at least I think I will. :D anywayz. . . its like super late but I wanna stay up and write moooorreee! so many ideeeaaassss! xp**


	12. Chapter 11: Family

Chapter 11: Family

Agent P laid back in his chair, his paws behind his head. His eyes were closed as he soaked in the warm rays of the sun. A sigh escaped him, and he titled his head a little to get some more of the heat. His hat rested on a small stand to his right.

Chester rested on another chair next to him with his hat on his own stand. The cat purred contentedly, a cat smile curled up on his face. Agent P glanced at him and went back to resting. Tomorrow he would go undercover as a normal platypus for the first time in public, where he would wait for a host family to come and take him home. Chester would be with him in his own little area, waiting for a host owner to claim him as well.

The platypus yawned, tilting his head towards his former mentor. The cat looked at him too, a smirk on his face. They were moving on now, finally. _I'll miss you flea-bag, Agent P's eyes said in amusement. _

_You too flatmouth, _Chester's eyes danced in amusement. He turned his head back towards the sky, his tail flicking lazily back and forth.

Agent wished that this day would never end.

(**)

_But of course it will, _the fourteen year old thought as he laid down in his small containment area. Karl was undercover in the pet shop pretending to sell pets, obviously.

"Are you sure this will work sir?" the student asked.

"Of course it will Karl!" Monogram objected. "Now get in your costume!"

"Yes sir."

_I think Karl has a point though, _the small blue mammal thought to himself. _I mean what kind of a person is going to adopt a platypus? _

As Agent P finished this thought he glanced over as the bell ringing above the door rang. A family stepped in. There was five of them. A mom, dad, older sister and two brothers. Agent P widened his eyes when he realized that it was the family he had met just a little more than a month ago.

"Oh, this one's looking at you Phineas!" the orange haired mom pointed Phineas to a cat.

"And this one's looking at you Ferb!" the dad lifted his orange haired son up to look at a droopy eyed dog.

Off where the fish tanks were the girl was demanding, "Why isn't anything looking at me?"

"Ferb!" The orange haired boy said. Agent P looked at the boy briefly then went in to his normal platypus mode. He'd better get used to this. "This one's looking at us at the same time!"

The father, seeing that his boys had chosen an animal, addressed the clerk. "Oh excuse me, we'd like that one."

Karl undercover sounded disbelieving, "You want to adopt a platypus?"

"Well if that's what it's called alright," the man said. He had a British accent with a tuft of brown hair on his head and glasses covering his eyes.

"And we know just want to call him!" Phineas said. "Bartholomew!" He and Ferb spoke at the same time.

_Bartholomew the platypus. Alright then. There's been worse names I'm sure, _Agent P thought to himself silently.

Karl undid Agent P's cage and got him out, handing him down to Phineas. The boy's small arms wrapped around him, holding him securely around the platypus's upper chest so the rest of him hung down limply. It didn't feel as bad as it looked. In fact it felt pretty good.

"Oh Phineas, I don't think you hold him like that."

"No Mom see? He doesn't mind it. If he didn't like it he'd be wiggling to get out, but he likes being held this way."

As an exclamation Agent P let out a soft chatter. Phineas held him tighter, pressing his face in to his fur.

Agent P stiffened for a moment, almost confused. What was this warm feeling spreading up through his chest?

(**)

"Actually, let's name him Perry!" Phineas announced as the faded red car parked to a stop in the driveway. Agent P was being held contentedly in the arms of Ferb, the green haired boy. "How's that sound to you Ferb?"

The silent greenie gave a thumbs up.

"Well Perry it is then!" Lawrence said. Agent P was starting to pick up on all the names.

"Why couldn't we have gotten something normal, like a dog or a cat?" Candace complained. Her Ipod earbuds were stuck in her ears so her talking was rather loud.

"Perry is special!" Phineas defended. "I mean look at him!" The boy lifted up the platypus to show him to his older sister. The preteen rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Whatever."

The family exit the car. The young platypus was transferred to Ferb and held firmly. "Come on Ferb, let's take Perry to his new home!"

The boys joyously ran in to the house, keeping their new friend as close to them as possible. Agent P gave a chatter again as the boys hurried up in to their room, closing the door shut and holding up the platypus to show him the room. There was a normal bed, next to it was what looked like a raft as a bed. "I sleep in the blow-up one," Phineas announced. "Ferb sleeps in the other one."

The pair continued to show their new friend the entire house, from their parent's bedroom to the kitchen and back again. At last the boys took their friend to the backyard where a huge oak tree resided, all of it's leaves branched out in a wondrous emerald green.

"You'll probably be out here a lot this summer since it's so nice out. Look how blue the sky is!"

Hearing this, Agent P took a glance to the sky, giving another chitter.

"Feel how soft the grass is. You've never felt grass before have you boy?" Phineas asked as he placed the small monotreme on the grass.

Agent P flexed his claws. The grass was soft, but that wasn't exactly what he was here for.

He was here to protect the citizens of Danville. He would get a nemesis soon and he'd really be an agent.

"What should we do now?" Phineas asked distantly. Agent P stared up at him and gave a small platypus, sure not to let them see it. The boy looked down. "What do you think Perry?"

Living here wouldn't be all that bad.

(*elsewhere in Danville*)

Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz cut the onions with slow cautiousness. From the kitchen he could hear his daughter watching a movie. "Daddy, what's for lunch?"

"Sandwiches," the scientist answered in a sort of monotone voice. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah I like sandwiches," the elven year old answered. There was a pause when, "Daddy are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," the father said, trying to sound light, but his voice cracked. Tears swelled in his eyes.

The young girl came in, her dark hair swishing over a part of her face. "Then why are you crying?"

"It's the onions sweetie. They make you cry when you cut them."

"How come?" she asked with innocent curiosity.

"The smell of the onions make it so I cry. It's kind of hard to explain." Doof wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"Oh okay." She jumped away to go back to her movie.

Doof turned away, continuing to cut the onions. He would never admit to his daughter, but it wasn't just the onions he was crying over.

The scientist had gone to the orphanage the day before and had asked for the records for Kid (or John Doe as they had him down as). And it turned out that they hadn't even noticed his absence. 

"What kind of organization are you running?" he had demanded before storming out.

He had then gone to the police station asking if the boy had any records there. They looked him up and found him. Doof scanned over it. So far so good they didn't know his real identity, his date of birth, who his parents were. They didn't know anything about him than what the orphanage had. There were a few dates below when he had been caught stealing things, like food, but they had let him go. Of course Doof knew that was only because Kid had probably snuck out through the bars. It wouldn't have surprised him since he was so small.

"Are you a relative sir?" the rookie policeman asked behind the desk. His eyes were wide.

"Um, kind of," Doof admit. "More of a close friend."

"You don't know do you sir?" the man said quietly, his eyes still wide.

"Know what?" Doof demanded.

"Someone came in several weeks ago reporting that he had drowned in the river."

Doof's heart stopped. He locked gazes with the policeman as everything in him seemed to shut down. "What?" he whispered, voice barely audible.

"Someone was with him. They were on the bridge over the river. The boy was sitting on it when he fell in to it. The man who was with him said that when he fell in he didn't come out. He was there for an hour and a half walking up and down the shore looking for him. He came to us then and told us what happened."

"When did this happen?" Doof suddenly demanded, his arms snapping forward and wrapping his fists in the young man's uniform, pulling him close.

"A few weeks ago sir," the man said, his voice slightly tremulous.

"Where's the body?" Doof snarled. Tears stung the corners of his eyes. No. No he couldn't be dead. Kid couldn't be dead. He'd been swimming in the river before, hadn't he?

"We didn't find it sir," the man answered.

Doof's hands trembled as he released the young police officer. He put a hand on the desk, collapsing against it, his legs loosing all feeling. He couldn't be dead. How could Kid be dead?

"I'm sorry sir," the man said quietly. "Were you his uncle? His father?"

It took Doof several moments to answer. Tears of loss flowed from his eyes, cascading down like mini waterfalls. At last his voice whispered out, "I wanted to be."

(*two years later*)

Perry settled comfortably in the warm grass on this bright summer day. It was the Fourth of July today. When night arrived the inky black sky would light up in a plethora of colors, blossoming wide out like a flower. When Perry had been a human, he had never really enjoyed the Fourth, seeing all the families gathered together with friends to watch the exploding artwork. But these past two years. . .

The teen platypus looked fondly over at his two sleeping owners. They were taking a nap below their favorite tree so they could stay up late for the fireworks. Phineas had his hands on his stomach with Ferb in the same position. The platypus watched them for a few seconds before walking over to them and lying down in between them so their warm bodies pressed up to his side. He sighed, eyes closing. The collar around his neck was settled comfortably at just the right position so it felt more like a large necklace than something that said he belonged to someone.

Perry had finally matured in to his full platypus size. Beneath his slim coat strong and lean muscles made themselves known. His tail began to grow strength as well. Chester had been right, he would grow stronger as he grew older. His mentor would barely recognize him now!

He flicked his tail slightly as he caught sight of Candace peeking out the glass door to see what those two brothers of her were doing. She was thirteen now and a little obsessed with getting her brothers in trouble. Perry would admit that the boys' activities were a little bit, excessive, but they were always safe and for fun purposes only. He'd enjoyed them through the past two years.

The platypus twitched in a sort of excitement. He wouldn't be able to rest right now, especially with the coming events. Monogram had scheduled for today to be the day he would finally meet his nemesis. Up till now he hadn't been able to get one because he wasn't as grown as he could be physically. At last the day had come when he could look up at Monogram with pride knowing that he would be a real agent.

The watch hidden below his fur beeped. Perry jumped to attention and sped off to the nearest secret entrance, the elevator in the tree. His heart raced in exhilaration as he trembled with excitement. This was it. This was it!

Perry jumped out of the elevator and leaped in to his red spinning chair, pulling a lever and pressing a button to reveal Monogram's face on the large screen above him.

The man had aged in the last couple of years. His auburn hair and mustache had turned in to a pure clean white. The unibrow remained.

A party had rested on his head; confetti fell from out of the camera-shot as he blew on a noise blower. Karl came up and joined him, wearing the same party-ware. "Congratulations Agent P! Today is your first day of real agent work! We couldn't be any more proud of you than we are."

"Congrats Agent P!" Karl waved, making another sound with his noise blower.

Perry saluted them, his eyes shining.

"Now this is a very serious day, so pay attention," Monogram said. He pulled out a stack of paperwork. A picture appeared on the screen next to him. "Your nemesis is named Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He's thirty five years old, and like most nemesis's in this city, he's an evil scientist."

Perry stared in shock at the picture in front of him. _Doofenshmirtz _was his nemesis? No way. That was so cool, and yet so weird at the same time. How ironic that this would happen.

_Still, Doof isn't really that evil, is he? I mean, he was totally nice to me when I needed help, and it wasn't because he pitied me, it was because he honestly cared about my well being. He was more of a friend then just some guy who gave me some cash. And I haven't forgotten about that money he gave me that supported Ebony's farewell get-together._

Perry saluted his superior. _Well, whatever. We'll see._

"Of course you must remember Agent P that you mustn't reveal your identity or you'll have to be removed from your host owners immediately. It's a huge hassle for us so that'd probably be best that you don't reveal who you really are."

_Guess I can't tell him who I really was as a human. He probably wouldn't even care anyway. Would he even remember me?_

"Go get 'em Agent P!"

The platypus jumped away in to his platypus hover vehicle and sped off to meet Doof as his nemesis for the first time.

**Thought of the little doof moment on the spot. It was just, perfect. You guys got what he said at the end of it right? :3 if you didn't get it doof wanted to adopt Kid, so now he thinks he's dead which will be PERFECT for later (evil writer laugh of anticipation). It'll be a while tho so :/ w/e.**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	13. Chapter 12: Frenemies

Chapter 12: Frenemies

Perry hid behind the mailbox, peeking out from it carefully. He adjusted his hat and watched with entrhalled excitement as his nemesis exit the store, holding his picture and smiling broadly.

_He hasn't really changed, _Perry thought with a smirk. _He seems all right. _He lifted himself a little higher to get a better look at him. The man paused and started to turn around, catching sight of Perry, the animal in the 1940's fedora.

Of course Perry allowed himself to be seen. He'd done all the watching as he needed to do. Watching Doofenshmirtz, Perry knew that the scientist was probably going to be a very mild enemy, and he didn't really look one to fighting. So much for all that training he'd been doing for the past 2 years.

Doof kept glancing over his shoulder as he walked, looking for his nemesis. Perry followed at a close distance, reamainging unseen to Doofenshmirtz. He kept his hat low over his head, sneaking behind anything that approached him for him to hide behind. Doof was completely unaware.

At long last they got to the DEI building. Perry jumped up the building as Doof entered it. He would have to scale it from the outside. It was the only way for him to get in without being suspected.

When the platypus reached the top, he leapt on to the balcony, sliding in through the cracked door, taking a jump and tuck rolling on the ground, landing in a perfect agent stance.

"There you are. It took you longer than I thought it would. Lemonade?"

Doof was holding two cups of lemonade with ice, a smile on his face. Perry stared at him, almost shocked. He held back the smile that was desperate to come out. At last he came to a thought, _Same old Doof._

"Here you go. It's not poisoned I promise." He smiled broadly.

Perry took the lemonade and sipped it. It tasted good. He'd never had real homemade lemonade before. At some charity events he had but not like this.

"Do you like it?" Doof asked as he slurped down his own, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

Perry nodded.

"I thought it would be a good ice breaker for our first meeting you know, to have some lemonade. Anyway I'm Heinz, Heinz Doofenshmirtz." The man held out his hand. Perry shook it and handed him a card with his name on it.

"Agent P/Perry. So. . . you're Perry huh?"

Perry nodded. "You're a platypus right?"

Again a nod.

"Perry the Platypus then!" The evil scientist smiled triumphantly. "That sounds good. Perry the Platypus!"

Perry offered a smile and tipped his hat to him. His nemesis had been pretty kind to him. It was the least he could do.

"Anyway, I didn't know we would be meeting today so I don't really have anything planned. But if you come tomorrow I'll have something evil up. Is that okay?"

Perry shrugged. Fine by him.

"Sorry I didn't have anything. And you probably can't tell me much about your private life or something. You can't talk right?"

Perry shook his head. No. No he couldn't.

"Dad?"

A little brunette peeked out from behind a corner. Perry stared at her. She was adorable. Her dark eyes gleamed behind her equally monotone hair. Her eyes seemed to drift naturally to the platypus, and she stared. "Did you get a pet Dad?"

"Oh, no. Vanessa this is my new nemesis Perry the Platypus. Perry the Platypus, this is my daughter Vanessa."

Perry stared at her. Doof had a daughter? Since when? She looked to be about thirteen. He hadn't seen her when he came a couple years earlier. As if asking, Perry lifted his head to his nemesis.

"I divorced my wife a little while ago and Vanessa visits every other weekend. Say hi Vanessa."

". . . Hi."

Perry walked up to her, swept his hat from his head and bowed low to the ground in a very gentlemanly way. He straightened himself, amused by the little stare of shock on Vanessa's face. Sort of like a 'who does that anymore?' look.

The girl went back to her room without another word, closing the door quietly behind her. Doof offered a soft laugh, wiping a tear from his eye. "She's cute isn't she?"

Perry smiled at him and tapped his wrist at Doof. The man looked at him. "Oh, you should probably get going huh? Yeah it's almost the end of the afternoon. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

The platypus nodded and tipped his hat to his nemesis again before jumping away, landing on his platypus hovercraft, speeding away to home.

**Short chapter. :3 sorriez!**


	14. Chapter 13: My Young Apprentice

Chapter 13: My Young Apprentice

Another year came and left. July hadn't begun yet, but there was the sharp anticipation of the coming summer holiday to keep the citizens of Danville on their toes and passing smiles to each other in the streets.

Perry was seventeen now, almost at the end of his teen years. His past year with Doofenshmirtz had been going well also. Doof didn't know who Perry really was, but he acted more like a close friend then a close enemy.

Frenemies. That sounded good.

Perry stretched his lithe body across the grass, rolling over so the sun warmed his soft belly. A hand rubbed it softly so the platypus let out a happy chatter. The hand rubbed a little harder. Perry's tail smacked on the ground with happy thuds.

"Wow Agent P, you're more like a platypus every time I see you. Of course that's every day so."

At the sound of the voice, the platypus rolled over on to his belly in a flash and was immediately back in his normal platypus stance. Karl smiled at him, wearing the same dorky purple glasses he always did. Perry knew he would have blushed if he could have.

"Sorry we couldn't talk to you by watch-wrist-communicator. The signal broke so, you know how that goes. Monogram sent me here so I could ask you about something."

The platypus raised his fur where an eyebrow would have been. Okay then ask what?

(**)

"His name is Terance Hawthins," the intern explained. Perry snuck off with Karl to his underground hideoout where he could explain what was going on. The young adult slid the portfolio at him, which the platypus flipped open, eyes scanning. The picture in the top corner was of a man with bright orange hair and familiar brown eyes. Perry sure didn't know him. He was twenty three years old, a former soldier of the Army, who was relieved after certain incidents.

"He has a real fighting spirit," Karl said. "I don't think he wanted to retire."

"So what can he do?" Perry asked. It was weird to talk after not for the past three years. How strange it felt to not make his usual animal chatter.

"He could be great use to us as an agent. He has a good amount of experience, a good attitude in work, and the real guy for this kind of job."

"Agent Terance," the agent tried out the name on his tongue. He looked up to Karl, who was watching with anticipation for his answer.

Perry flipped a little more through the portfolio, finally closing it and nodding at Karl with a smirk on his face.

"Great!" The intern scooped up the portfolio and slid the agent a form. "Just fill that out. We'll expect you at 8 on Friday."

The agent reached over and grabbed hold of Karl's sleeve. He looked over. "What is it Agent P?"

"What about my fam- host owners?" He quickly corrected himself. They didn't like him getting too attached to the family he had to stay with.

"Oh, don't worry about that Agent P. We've got it covered," Karl reassured. "Just show up on time."

Perry nodded and let go of Karl's sleeve, a smirk on his face. "See you later Agent P!" Karl called.

(**)

Friday morning arrived. Perry went in to the shaft that led him through the underground tunnels that went throughout the entire city. The tunnel pulled him to the OWCA entrance, spitting him out so he went through the air and landed on his feet. He dusted his hat off, placing it back on his head. Karl was standing waiting for him. "Welcome back Agent P. You haven't been here since when you were an apprentice were you?"

Agent P nodded, looking around reminiscently. It felt like he had returned home after a long and tiresome journey. "Follow me, we'll take you to the Changing room."

Perry followed along closely. There weren't many agents about, most of them were ones he didn't recognize. He could have sworn thought that he caught sight of Agent T (tiger) slinking through the halls with a slight limp. RJ and Brown didn't seem to be around either. Chester was out of sight as well, probably off with his nemesis. In the back of his mind, Perry wondered how Doof was doing.

(**)

Heinz Doofenshmirtz walked with a deeper slouch than what was normal for him, like the world was weighed on his shoulders. In his hands he held a bouquet of flowers. Vanessa was at Charlene's for the weekend so he didn't have to worry about her coming over. And Perry was off doing something else, he didn't know what. Some secret agent stuff.

Doof reached the far end of the graveyard, kneeling down to the small stone that was there. It wasn't much, just a litlte one, barely three feet high. On it was an inscribed word, just a word. No birthday, and only a day of death.

**Kid**

**June 1 2006**

"Sorry I'm late," Doof said sadly, barely a smile on his face. "I've been wanting to come for a couple weeks but I've been juggling work with my nemesis and being with my daughter that I haven't been able to find the time until now to come and visit." He placed the flowers in the small place to put them. He allowed tears to drip down his face as his smile faltered. "You're happy though. You're with your mother, right?"

He sat in quiet solace for several more moments, small traces of tears shining on his cheeks. The scientists wiped them away, holding back a sniff. "I better be going then. I'll see you next year Kid."

With a heavy heart, Doof stood to his feet and walked back to DEI, not minding the cold rain that drizzled down on him.

(**)

Perry got to the same room that he had been in when his transformation happened. Strapped to the bed was a huge man, tall with muscles clearly visible. His hair was dark with a faint stubble growing along his jaw. He turned his brown eyes to Perry, silently studying him. The senior agent nodded to his soon-to-come-apprentice, his own eyes calculating as he sized up Terance.

He was tough, sturdy, that much was obvious. This was a man that knew how to fight, and he was trained well. His eyes glittered with the past of fighting war, looking like he had stared Death in the eyes before coming here.

Agent P could tell though, this one was prideful, which was something that an agent shouldn't have. There of course was innocent pride in doing one's duty as an agent correctly, but if you get too prideful, you'll fall, as the saying goes.

"Pride before the fall," Perry murmured silently.

As the nurses came in to take Terance's blood, Perry tugged on Karl's sleeve. "How much does he know about me?" he murmured to him.

"Only what he'll hear from the other agents, and that you're called Agent P, and you're a platypus."

Perry nodded. "What animal has he chosen?"

"Turtle," Karl informed. "Although it sounds a little weird-"

"It's okay," Perry said. "Not many people choose a platypus either. I think I can handle a turtle."

Karl smiled, "That's one of the exact reasons we thought you'd be able to do this job Agent P. I'm gonna go get the inator warmed up."

Perry didn't watch Karl leave as he jumped up to the stool beside the bed to stand next to his almost-apprentice. The man looked over at him. It was the first time he'd ever seen a blue platypus. "You're going to be my mentor?" His voice was rough and gravelly, but below the tough outside, there was a curious child-like person below.

Agent P nodded and tipped his hat to him.

"Never met a platypus before."

Perry shrugged. It didn't feel right talking to him as he was still human. It was weird enough talking to Karl and Monogram when he had to.

"Can you talk?"

Perry paused, then nodded.

"Why don't you?" he asked again.

_So many questions. Chester must have felt the same way. I was probably worse, being younger and all. _Perry held up his hand, his palm facing Terance, as if telling him to slow down. _All will be explained after this, _he said with his eyes.

Terance seemed to get the message. He nodded a little weakly and faced the inator as it fired up. Perry recognized a flicker of fear in the man. He thought he would keep silent about it but the man turned to Perry again, the fear more obvious now. "Does it hurt?" he whispered.

Agent P blinked. Finding his voice he answered, "Not really. You'll feel it, but it won't hurt."

The man, reassured by his mentor's words, nodded and faced the inator again, his eyes and jaw set with determination.

_He's a fighter, _Perry observed.

The platypus backed away a couple inches on the stool, shielding his eyes with his arms as the light illuminated the room. He heard a gasp from Terance as the ray hit him. Perry didn't have any time to reflect on it, for as fast as the light had come was as fast as it left.

Perry lowered his arm, staring at what was now before him.

A turtle, bright orange with a green looking shell lay on the bed where a full grown man had been. Perry stared at him, anticipation at this young trainee rising in his chest. It was strange though, he'd be teaching someone who was five years older than him how to be a secret agent.

The platypus reached over to Terance, who's eyes were open and scanning the area. The now-turtle looked at his hand, which was now orange and scaly. "Did it work?"

"Welcome to the OWCA, Terance," Perry said warmly. He smiled at Terance, who looked up at Perry almost in shock.

"You got bigger."

Perry laughed and patted his head. "Can you stand?"

The turtle shakily got to his hind feet, wobbling a little. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay." Right as he said this he staggered, falling to all fours. Perry helped him up. Terance placed a hand on Perry's shoulder for balance. Both looked to the doorway as Monogram and Karl walked in. "Looks like it was a success! How do you feel Terance?"

"Fine," the turtle answered. "Healthy as a horse."

"Good. It seems it went perfectly. When do you think you can begin training?"

"I'm ready when you are," the turtle responded.

"Well that's not up to me. Agent P here is going to be your mentor. He'll teach you everything there is to know about being an agent of the OWCA."

Terance looked over to Perry, a shocked but pleased expression on his face. "Okay." Perry gave him an encouraging smile. "Can we start now?" he questioned.

"Are you up for it?" he responded.

"Of course!"

"Then we'll begin." Perry removed his arm from Tearance, jumping down on to the ground, landing on all fours. "Come on down," he said.

Terance peered down from the bed. It was more than double his height now. But the young agent didn't show any fear as he leaped down, landing on his back feet. "Okay, let's go."

"Not yet. Get on all four feet."

"Why?"

"Because you're a turtle. How many turtles do you see that walk on their back feet?"

Grudgingly, Terance got down to his front feet as well. He walked up to Perry. "But all the other agents I've seen here walk on their back feet."

"That's only because they're here, and they're graduated agents. You need practice to walk on your back feet to prepare you when you have to go out in public. If you're staggering around everywhere on your four paws, the humans will think something is wrong with you. Now lets go."

The bright orange turtle began walking with his mentor. The platypus kept glancing at him to see how he was doing, which became apparent that Terance could adapt quickly. He kept his balance and a steady pace alongside Perry. The agent smiled at him. "See it's easy isn't it?"

Terance bounded a little faster so he was right next to Perry. "So how long have you been an agent?"

Perry thought back, "Oh, about five years now this summer."

"Wow. Who was your mentor?"

"Agent C. He was a cat. Taught me almost everything I know."

"Almost everything?" the curious turtle questioned.

"Half of what you learn as an agent is what I, your teacher will teach you. The other half is from experience and intuition. It all matters on who your nemesis will be and how you will learn to respond to them. My job is to teach you how to fight and how to survive. The rest is pretty much on your own."

"But I already know how to fight," Terance complained. "And I know how to fight. I don't need training."

"Oh really?" Perry said in amusement. "So do you think you could beat me?"

"Yeah! I could totally take you down right now!"

"Is that so?" The agent said, smirking. He stopped where he walked, turning to the turtle. He had led him to the outdoors where a large space was reserved for fighting. The grass was soft and perfect for this. "Then come at me. Right now." He angled his upper body down, and mischievous glint in his eyes.

Terance paused, looking at his mentor who was in an attacking pose, more of a taunt really. "Here?"

"Here."

"Now?"

"Now."

The ginger turtle blinked, shocked. At last he narrowed his eyes in determination when Perry growled at him, goading him on.

Perry remembered what it was like as a new species, without even a day's experience of getting used to new instincts that were wired through your body. He knew how Terance would react instantly to Perry's growl, a sign of aggression, a challenge.

And although the turtle didn't know it, he was completely weakened to his new instincts.

The turtle threw himself upon Perry, slashing out with his claws and going back to his hind feet. Perry sidestepped him, almost lazily and gave him a taunting slap with his tail. Terance jumped away. Perry watched, knowing that the instinct for the turtle to curl up in his protective shell was taking effect. But in every animal there was a fighting spirit that was ready and willing to defend themselves no matter what.

Terance jumped at Perry, who again merely stepped to the side, slapping him even harder with his tail. "_Don't fight your instincts,_" the platypus hissed at his apprentice. "_Let them flow. Use them to help you fight your opponent. Blindly rushing in never works."_

The turtle faced his mentor, breathing heavily. A little growl curled past his lips. Perry made a few baby steps to the side, blue fur bristling and claws sheathed. The monotreme growled in return, brown eyes glistening fiercely. Terance's eyes flicked over his mentor, calculating. He got on to his front as well as his four paws. Perry felt a flicker of pride as Terance began to circle the platypus, who followed his movements carefully.

Terance growled, lowering his head as well. A smirk flicked on Perry's bill as the turtle jumped at Perry, but right as the platypus was about to step past him, the turtle switched direction and collided in to Perry's side, pushing him down to the ground.

"_Got him!"_ the turtle thought in success as his so called 'mentor' was pushed to the ground.

"_As if,_" the senior agent thought as he was pushed to the ground. He jumped away to the side so the turtle skid away on the smooth green grass. Not wasting a moment Perry jumped on him so Terance was on his back. He put his paw on the turtle's neck, a dark glint in his eyes. With the most careful pressure, Perry unsheathed his claws ever so slightly so they pricked Terance's reptilian skin. The turtle backed his head away, trying to avoid the claws that threatened to kill him.

"First lesson," Perry growled, bringing his head a little closer, "never pick a fight you don't know that you'll win."

Perry found that he wasn't surprised when a flicker of respect lit in the turtle's eyes.

Perry backed away, letting the turtle rise to his feet. He stood on his two feet, dusting himself off. "Sorry," the turtle apologized.

"No problem." Perry stood up, dusting himself off as well. He reached over and pushed Terance down to his four feet again. Perry smirked at him, patting his head. "You have a lot to learn my young apprentice."

"Whatever you say Obi-Wan."

**hey guys! :D guess what? I'm not dead! :D XD**

**tomorrow (thursday) marks the last day of semester tests. And all I have is gym, so, i'm going to be at school for less than an hour and half, then I'm leaving. Then after that im leaving for a student leader winter retreat and I wont come back till saturday, so i'll upload the next chapter then, cuz im not bringing my computer with me. Thanks for waiting for me! :D **

**I guess im going through a star wars lapse. . . . which is good cuz the first movie is coming to 3D in a month-ish. :3 give me comments on that. Is anyone gonna go see it?**


	15. Chapter 14: Funeral

Chapter 14: Funeral

Perry guided Terance to the cafeteria, not surprised when he found a sea of agents there. The platypus scented the air, searching for the familiar brown dog with the bright orange tabby cat. As they entered the agent cafeteria, Perry stood on his back legs, removing his hat from his head. He gestured for Terance to stand with him, and placed a finger to his bill. Understanding, the turtle nodded.

With caution, the platypus and turtle got in to the line. When they retrieved their food, the pair walked to the table where Brown and Chester were sitting. Both of the agents' hats had been removed, resting on the table. Perry nodded at them. They nodded in return, allowing the pair to join them. Perry sat across from Chester, nodding to him. The cat nodded back at him, his ginger ears flattened, burdened by the weight of sadness.

"I'm sorry C," he murmured across the table to him. "I know what a great friend he was to you."

The cat nodded, his head low, his tray untouched. Brown sat close to him, eating slowly, barely eating at all. The dog cast Perry a grateful glance and finally spoke up, "So P, whos' the newbie?"

Perry smiled at them. "This is Terance, my apprentice."

"First one right?" Brown asked.

"Yeah."

Brown seemed more interested now. "How old are you shell?" Apparently Terance had already been accepted in to the group to get a nickname. Perry tried to hide a smile.

"Twenty three," the turtle defended.

Brown gave a huff of laughter, eating his food now, looking like he was going to burst with laughter. Terance looked at him suspiciously, "Why, how old are you?"

"Hmm, twenty eight now. C here too."

Terance looked over at the depressed cat, who still hadn't eaten anything. He turned his attention back to Perry. "What does it matter about my age?"

Brown tossed a smile at Perry, though it was somewhat forced. "Shell doesn't know yet kid?"

Perry smirked at his ex-name, that was also his new nickname. He shook his head at the agent. "No."

"Know what?" Terance demanded to know. Perry could tell he was getting really frustrated. He smirked at the turtle, and made a gentle waving motion with his hand to Brown, allowing the dog to continue.

A little eager, Brown gave a taunting mischievous smile towards Terance, who was looking at his seniors with eyes confused and desperate to the truth. "What?"

"Agent P here," Brown said with an amused smirk, "is only at the ripe young age of seventeen."

Terance was frozen for a moment, as if taking in the information that had now been offered to him. He looked over at Perry, staring at him. "Y-You're only seventeen?"

"Yep," Agent P answered.

The orange turtle stared at him with wide eyes. "I'm getting trained, to be an expert secret agent, by a _kid?" _

"I'm an adult actually," Perry informed. "Well, almost. I'll be an adult in July."

Perry could have sworn he saw a vein in Terance's neck pop. He screamed out, "I'm being taught by a _kid?" _

Agent P sat back and scratched behind his head. "Yeah pretty much. But don't forget this Kid was able to kick your butt."

"How old were you when you joined? Two?"

"Thirteen," Perry smiled.

Terance face palmed and put his head in his hands. "I can't believe this."

Brown laughed, Perry along with him. The blue platypus felt relieved when he saw his former mentor even crack a smile at the direction the conversation had drifted in to.

The cat looked up sharply as the intercom crackled to life. All communication in the cafeteria froze to a halt as a voice spoke out. "Agent R's funeral will begin in 10 minutes."

The entire room remained in silence as the message ended. Agent D and C lowered their heads respectfully. Perry did the same, nudging Terance to copy him. The turtle threw him a mutinous glance, but lowered his head as well.

"Who's Agent R?" the turtle whispered, momentarily forgetting about his fight with his mentor.

The agents proceeded to leave the cafeteria. Perry informed him, "Agent R is a close friend. I met him when I joined. Agent D and C are very close to him."

"But he's dead?" the turtle whispered to him, eyes curious.

"Yes."

"How?"

"While he was fighting his nemesis the machine fell down on top of him. He was killed instantly," the platypus said solemnly.

Terance ducked his head quietly, following Perry as they walked through the halls to where the funeral would take place. The turtle looked over at Perry, his eyes curious. "So how old were you when you joined?"

"Thirteen."

If the turtle would have had fur, Perry knew it would be bristling. "That's ridiculous. I don't need help from a kid!"

"Oh, do you want to fight me again?" Perry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Embarrassed, Terance dipped his head down, "That was different. I wasn't ready."

"Then you're ready now?"

"No! I'm just saying-"

"Yeah whatever. Come on."

The pair walked down the hallway with the other agents, turning in to a large room. With a small flicker of memory, Perry recalled that this was the room in which he had first been accepted as an official agent.

Agent D, C and P sat close to the front with Terance next to Perry. The blue platypus gave his feline mentor a few comforting pats on the shoulder. Chester looked at him with forlorn golden eyes. His soft ears were folded back against his head, his fur slightly ruffled. His tail hung down in sadness. Brown nudged him. The pair exchanged a glance. Brown put a paw on Chester's shoulder as well. "He's at peace now Chester," the dog murmured quietly. "He wouldn't want us to be sad for him."

Chester nodded weakly, giving both of his friends a thankful smile. "Thanks guys," he murmured.

All attention in the room shifted to the front where Monogram walked to the podium behind the small coffin, decorated with flowers and little doo dads. He wore all black. Karl sat in the front row wearing the same. Sad glances were exchanged between them before Monogram cleared his throat to begin. "I-It's always hard to do one of these. It's my least favorite thing to do as overseer of our operation. And not just because I hate getting dressed up either."

A small murmur of laughter drifted across the room. Perry offered a melancholy smile, daring to glance at Chester. His eyes were moist, looking like he was about to cry. Brown was the same.

_They were really close. It must be hard. . ._

The funeral went by in a daze. When it was over Terance and Perry walked out to the backyard where the sun had already set. "This is a serious job then," the student said quietly.

"Very. Just because most of our enemies we have to fight are complete idiots, we can still die."

"Are most of them idiots?"

"As far as I've seen, yes," Perry offered a half-smile. "It is dangerous but. . . I don't know. It's hard to explain. You'll understand when you graduate."

Perry could still feel the weight of his student's gaze on him. He looked over at him. "What is it?"

"For a kid, you're not that stupid."

Perry laughed, "I'm not exactly a kid. I had to grow up a long time ago."

The turtle looked confused. "How does a thirteen year old get recruited to this anyway?

Perry smiled sadly. "I grew up on the streets. I fought a lot. It's kind of mandatory you know. The OWCA heard about me and they wanted to recruit me, so here I am. Agent C was my mentor."

"The cat?"

"Yeah."

Terance sat down on the cool grass. Perry sat with him, his back feet hanging over the small dip of ground so his webbed feet barely touched the smooth water. "What was your name? Like, before all this?"

"I never knew what my name was. Everyone just called me Kid."

"You don't know who your parents are?"

"Nope. Not a clue."

Terance looked saddened by this. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I never needed them."

"Still. . ."

Perry smiled at him. "It doesn't matter. That life is over now. I'm Perry now."

"Perry?"

"Yeah."

Terance blinked at his mentor. The wheels moved in his head. "Perry the Platypus. . ."

The platypus let out a loud laugh. "Yup. That's me."

"Why are you blue?"

"That was my hair color when I was human."

"Really?"

"Of course. What you don't believe me?"

"Sure I believe you but _why _was it that color?"

"You're asking me? How should I know?"

"Well it was _your _hair color."

~one month later~

"Welcome Agent T. You are now a full agent of the OWCA."

Cheers erupted throughout the room. Perry stood back, his chest puffed out, feeling like he was going to burst with pride. The platypus looked on as the fedora was placed on Terance's head. The turtle smiled up at Monogram and Karl, saluting them. Perry smirked happily, tipping his hat to Terance as he approached. The new agent tipped his hat back to his mentor, smiling at him gratefully. "Thank you Agent P. I've learned a lot thanks to you."

"Not a problem Shell," Perry said, using the nickname that had become popular to the young turtle. Brown had been using it frequently.

"I can't call him _Terance. _How dorky does _that _sound?" Brown had asked with a shrug the month previous.

"And it's Perry now. You don't have to call me Agent P."

Terance smiled at him, reaching out to shake paws with his mentor. "It's been an honor working with you all the same Perry. I hope we meet again."

"Oh don't worry. We will." Perry winked at him. "Hopefully we can meet on the field. Then I can _really _see how well I taught you."

Terance wrapped, allowing the platypus to pull him in to a hug. "Peace and safety to you Agent T."

"And to you," the turtle replied. It was the basic agent farewell, mostly used for agents parting from their mentors, as a sign that they had finished their training.

Perry gave Terance a little fist bump to his shoulder. "Don't go too easy on your nemesis. Keep him in line. Lord knows I need to keep mine there."

Terance laughed. "I guess this is the last time we talk."

"Not the last," Perry said with a smile. "It never is."

~back at the Flynn-Fletcher household~

"Oh there you are Perry! You're back! How was the 'Best Platypus in Show' competition? I bet you won first place didn't you?"

Perry gave his usual chatter at Phineas, who knelt down to give his pet a few pats. "We've missed ya! And we're glad you're back too!"

"After all, everything's better with Perry," Ferb offered.

"Yes. Yes it is."

~Back at DEI the next day~

"Oh there you are Perry the Platypus! I was wondering when you were going to get back! It's been forever! I've had this planned out for weeks now!" There was a clang as a cage fell atop the platypus. "I've got you now Perry the Platypus!"

The platypus smirked as Doof began to work on another one of his back stories. He started working on escaping.

_It's good to be back._


	16. Chapter 15: The Stealing of a Nemesis

Chapter 15: The Stealing of a Nemesis

Perry's eyes snapped open from his dream, staring out at the window where the storm raged from outside. Wind and rain whipped against the windows. Lightning flashed. The platypus started, thinking he had seen a face in the window. He gasped, staring at the small black and white face. He got in the fighting stance, but when he blinked, the face was gone.

~**one year later~**

One more year came and gone. Summer approached. School was released for the kids, promising the next three months of warmth, water and sun. Perry settled on his usual spot underneath the tree, smiling to himself as the boys planned another day. It was weird how they were able to do all this in a day. For most people it would take years to do what they do every day. Perry liked the summer. He got to spend time with his family. It got really boring and lonely when he had only Doofenshmirtz to be with him for most of the day. And when there were those days that he had off, they were extremely dull. He couldn't imagine being with any other host owners.

The platypus frowned. _I can't allow my feelings to get in the way with my work, _he told himself sternly. It was one of the first rules of being an agent. Never let your emotions control your work.

_Oh, time to go, _the platypus thought to himself as his watch beeped, announcing it was time for him to head off to work.

The platypus got in through a different way this time, going through the pool, rolling out to the edge of the rooftop of DEI, walking along it where he had spied Doof's silhouette behind the glass. From within he heard Doof, "Take that!" _Bang! _"And that!" _Bang! _"And that!" _Bang!_

Perry's eyes widened with each bang heard from within. When the third one sounded, his strength gave out as he burst in through the roof door. Inside he found Doofenshmirtz holding another hand-held inator. "Perry the Platypus!" his nemesis gasped. "I-uh-"

_He looks guilty, _Perry thought suspiciously. The evil scientist hid his small ray gun behind his back, looking like a kid who had been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. "Th-There's nobody here with me."

_Why would there be? _The platypus thought, anger starting to nip at his suspicion. Doof looked angry at himself, "I-I mean what are you doing here Perry the Platypus?" A fake smile was on his face, laced with nervousness.

_He always was a bad liar, _Perry concluded to himself, adjusting his attention to a closet, where thuds and more bangs were coming from, sounding like a struggle. His nemesis altered his attention there too. Perry caught sight of a small paw print on his right cheek. Doof looked back to Perry, who must have looked shocked based on Doof's anxious expression. He gave another weak and awkward smile. "I uh, I have mice?"

_Idiot, _the monotreme decided, walking over confidently over to the closet. Doof suddenly sounded worried and scared.

"No Perry the Platypus I wouldn't go in there if I were you!"

But not paying attention to his nemesis's warnings, Perry swung the door open, annoyed and expecting to find some other inator that had malfunctioned and already causing trouble for Doof, thereby causing trouble for the teal agent.

Instead, he found something he didn't expect, nor ever want to find.

A panda, the same height as Perry, stood facing him. The platypus stared with huge eyes at the small mammal, not moving away his gaze from him. Both agents blinked at each other. He didn't seem to hear Doof, who was coming up with more lies and excuses. He turned to look at his nemesis, who was denying to have ever known this panda.

Perry felt his heart twist as he heard the lies in Doofenshmirtz's voice. Pointing an accusing finger at Doof's cheek where the paw print was, he waited for the truth.

More excuses spilled from Doof's mouth. "But it's not what you think! We're not enemies, we're like bad friends!"

After a tense silence, the panda moved past Perry to stand in front of Doof, where to Perry's horror and dismay, moved a hand down to rest it on the panda's back. "Sorry Perry the Platypus I didn't want you to find out this way. Okay here it is-"

Perry threw a furious glance at Perry before looking up at Doof, the anger sparking up higher.

"Peter the Panda, is my new nemesis." The pair looked at each other while Perry watched on with a 'yeah right really?' look. But with each word Doof went on pierced his heart. "We met at an evil genius expo in Seattle and, well me and Peter we instantly disliked each other. And he foiled a secret plan of mine and, well I didn't plan it that way it just happened." Moving his gaze back to Peter he asked, "Peter the Panda could you be a dear and go get us some soda?"

Without a word the panda walked away, disappearing behind a corner. Perry looked back at Doof, betrayal finally starting to sting his eyes as the realization of what was happening started to sink in.

"It's not that I don't hate you anymore, I do! It's just that, I think it's time we took a break and, and started fighting other people." The evil scientist crossed his arms, looking away with closed eyes. Peter came back in, holding two cups. Perry shot him dark glares.

"Thank you Peter the Panda," Doof said, taking the cup and slurping down his drink. "I'd offer you one Perry the Platypus but, but I think it'd just be better if we make a, make a clean break you know? So, where, where was I?" He looked back at Peter, that same, familiar glare on him being plastered directly at the little bear. "_So _Peter the Panda, you think you have outwitted me!"

_No. No it can't be true. No. No, _Perry thought distantly, his mind racing in fear and horror.

He jerked to a start realizing that Doof was speaking to him. "Perry the Platypus you're making this harder than it needs to be. Go on it's over now." Doof walked up to Perry, who walked backwards on instinct to the doorway. He glanced over at a green inator right behind him. "Oh. Oh that? That's just my Freezinator Ray. But I don't want to explain it to you I already gave the whole speal to Peter," he smiled over in the direction of the panda, "but, but don't worry, he- he's stopping me. It's well at hand. Good bye." Doof closed the door slowly, a smile on his face.

His heart beating deadly, Perry turned around, walking down the hallway. He flinched visibly as Doof's voice echoed down the hallway, "Curse you Peter the Pandaaaaa!"

_No._

A hard determination settled in Perry's gut as he took off to the OWCA.

~**back in the OWCA~**

"I'm sorry Agent P, there's nothing we can do about Peter the Panda. He's not in our jurisdiction. It's not in our authority to stop him from fighting Doofenshmirtz. And Doofenshmirtz gets to choose who his nemesis is. They're only assigned in the beginning so the scientist can understand what a nemesis does and how they act. We can't make him keep his first nemesis. I'm sorry but," Karl's voice dropped off slightly, "Doofenshmirtz is in the hands of whatever jurisdiction Peter is in."

Perry's shoulders slumped forward. He had his weight on his hands, leaning down on the panel. His breath caught in his throat, the feeling of betrayal coursing through his veins. _No. No no no. How could this happen? How long has this been going on? Did I do something wrong? What could have made him question how much he hates me? _

Karl's voice was sad, melancholy. "We'll assign you a new nemesis as soon as we can. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

But instead, Perry shot off to the elevator to get to the OWCA. He didn't hear Karl's farewell, because in ten seconds he was standing there with him. Karl stared at him. "Agent P? What are you doing here?"

Perry merely waved away Karl's question, running off to the records room. Hurrying through the files, he came across P. Not paying any attention to his folder, he flicked over to the name that caught his eye. "Peter the Panda," he growled, pulling it out.

He skimmed through it. A young agent, barely younger than he was. So he was inexperienced. Apparently he had only been an agent for less than a year.

_Why that little brat, _Perry bristled.

Perry knew this from the other agents, but all of their relationships were pretty much the same. There were certain boundaries you would never cross while in the nemesis/agent relationship. It was something none of them had ever been able to describe. You hated your nemesis, but you would never turn them in, really destroy them, or ever take another nemesis unless assigned by your superiors. And all in the same, you treat each other with an amount of respect a friend would show, all the while making sure they don't take over the world. There were lines you just don't cross.

Peter had crossed most of those lines.

And to any agent, that was a challenge.

~**later that night~**

Perry sat in the far corner of the cafeteria, his hat pulled low over his head. Chester sat opposite him. Perry had informed him of all that happened. With his mentor's full support to back him up, Perry knew what he would do.

At last Chester's foot nudged his. He gave the slightest of nods, adjusting his vision to see better where the panda entered the cafeteria. He didn't have a home yet. Perry had been right to assume he had nowhere else to stay but at the nearest OWCA headquarters.

And of course, he was right.

The panda walked in, getting in to the short line. He ordered some food, going over to an empty table. Not recognizing the stranger, most of the agents cast him suspicious glances. Perry's fur bristled angrily as he studied the panda. He glanced over at Chester, casting a furious gaze at him. The cat looked to Perry, giving him a small nod.

With that, Perry stood up, walking silently to the table Peter sat in. He stopped beside him, right as the panda was about to eat a branch of bamboo. Peter looked up, blinking. Perry grimaced, a growl chattering past his bill. Peter's eyes squinted in to a frown as he glared at the platypus. Tension mounted in the room. Messages passed between the agents' eyes.

_Doofenshmirtz is _my _nemesis. Who do you think you are? _Perry flashed.

_Not anymore. He's mine. He hates me more. Go find your own nemesis._

_You don't even belong here. Go to your own district! _Perry growled at him.

_You can't make me do anything. Anyway, stop being such a baby. Nemesis's come and go all the time. It won't hurt you to get another one. Besides, it's not your choice to who Doofenshmirtz picks as his nemesis. It's his. He doesn't hate you anymore. Now get lost._

Perry clenched his fists in anger, feeling like his heart was getting squeezed and beaten. He glared at the panda, his anger overflowing. Leaning back his fist, he prepared to give that panda a busted lip to match with his black eyes, but as he was about to snap his fist forward, a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned, looking at Chester who held him back. The tabby looked at him firmly, a set determination in his eyes. _He's not worth it Perry. He's just a snotty little panda. There's nothing we can do. And if you started a fight, you know that Monogram would get angry at you. _

Perry looked at him desperately, a pleading and hurt look in his gaze. Chester gave him a sympathetic look. _I understand Perry, but you need to contain your anger. Walk away. _

The platypus wrenched his hand free from Chester's grip. He glared furiously down at the ground, his shoulders trembling with anger. Throwing the panda a dark glance, the platypus stalked off, his fists clenched to his sides.

He'd get his revenge.

**the next day~**

"Ferb do you think something's wrong with Perry? He's been acting weird. Do you think he's sick?"

The preteen gave a shrug to his step-brother, looking down at the platypus and petting him gently. Phineas gave the platypus a concerned look. "This isn't like him."

Perry was sprawled out over the carpet, his eyes open halfway, looking almost dead. Phineas pet the platypus, his touch careful. Ferb gave Perry a few nice pats, turning his eyes to the outside. "Maybe it's because of the rain."

Phineas glanced outside. "Maybe. But Perry loves the rain. Especially when it's done, then he gets to jump around in all the puddles. That's probably his favorite time of day."

Perry gave a low moan, settling more down in to the carpet, his muscles tired and his heart heavy. It had only been a day without his nemesis and already he felt like crap. It was enough to see them at the store earlier shopping for groceries. The agent could have sworn he saw the panda glare at him. Though Doof had spotted him, he had again been totally clueless about who he was.

The platypus groaned again. Phineas sounded scared now. "Maybe we should take him to the vet, give him a check up."

At first Ferb didn't feel very convinced, but when the platypus let out a high whine, he nodded to Phineas. "I think so too."

The boys left the house, taking a transportation they had made from earlier this morning but hadn't yet been destroyed or bought. They got to the vet, waited impatiently for the animal doctor, and hurried in when it was there turn.

"Oh there you are Perry!" Dr. Minerva said. The vet gently lifted Perry so he stood on his feet, but his muscles slumped down wearily as his mind kept flipping through the memories he'd had with his nemesis. He should be relieved he doesn't have to work with him anymore. Now he won't have to put up with those ridiculous back stories, or awkward musical numbers and never need to listen to anymore stupid evil schemes.

Perry flinched, closing his eyes as he held back the tears. Never have to look at the same outfit every day, never have to hear that voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Never have to look at that messy cocoa brown hair. Never have to put up with that scent that smelled like almond brittle and oil. Never have to look at those turquoise blue eyes.

The platypus gave a weak moan. Oh who was he kidding? He was heartbroken. How could this happen? How? That stupid panda. He thought he was _so _smart, running in to Perry's life and taking his nemesis. Who cared if he was from another OWCA district?

"Nothing is wrong with him physically," the vet confirmed as she rubbed Perry's shoulders. "It seems he's just in a mood swing."

"Meaning?" Phineas prompted.

"He's sad," Ferb answered simply.

Phineas's eyebrows furrowed down in concern. "What? Why is he sad?"

"Who knows?" the vet said.

"But he's a platypus! They don't do much! How could he be sad? We want him to be happy!"

The vet gave Perry a few gentle pats. "I'm sure he'll snap out of it. Don't worry."

**lolz sorry it took so long. i was a bit swamped yesterday and didn't get much writing time in.**

**the winter retreat was a blast! (for those of you if you was wondering) :D got a couple bruises here and there from tubing up the mountain but riding on the snowmobile down was AWWWEEESOOOMMMEEE! 8D played a lot of card games with everyone! :D Mafia, BS, more Mafia, the Sign Game, even more Mafia . . . (smirk: won 3 games of BS. who knew i was such a liar? :D lolz)**

**if i get more typing time tonight i might get another chapter up tomorrow. thank you for your patience! :D**


	17. Chapter 16: The Call

Chapter 16: The Call

A week passed by without events. As it passed, the weight over Perry's heart drew lighter and lighter. He began to sit up a little straighter, eat a little more, and turned back to his normal self. No words could describe the relief that came from the platypus's owners. Phineas sat with Ferb watching a horror movie late one night with Perry stretched out on his lap, totally relaxed. The boy sighed. "I'm glad you're feeling better Perry. Ferb and I were getting worried too. Not only us but everyone else."

Which was true. Over the week the gang had heard about Perry's state, sending flowers in response. Perry swore that the house had never smelled better.

**~at DEI~ **

Heinz Doofenshmirtz paced in front of the space where the phone was. He wrung his hands in front of him as small beads of sweat formed on his face. This was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Fighting a thousand Perry's was nothing compared to this. His heart beat with fear as the evil scientist paused in front of the phone, silent and waiting.

"I'm going to do it okay!" he yelled at it, as if the phone had asked him what was taking him so long. "You try calling your nemesis who's been your nemesis for years and ask him if he wants to work together again! It's been like five years okay? So I don't know if he'll trust me again!"

After being emotionally scarred by the heartless Peter the Panda (who wouldn't listen to his musical number) Doof had kicked out his new nemesis, and had been without one for almost a week. And without Vanessa and Perry, the almost week turned out to be a total bore. Not only that but it became really lonely, and an emotionless robot didn't exactly make the best company.

_I want to talk to him, but, I don't know how to ask. Oh he's going to think I'm a total jerk I'm so stupid what should i do? _The evil scientist lamented. He held the small card his nemesis had given him years ago. On it was the agent's name with a phone number. A couple years back Doof had been kidnapped by a jealous old evil scientist friend who wanted Doof's great life, and intended to switch places. Doof would be killed then the doppleganger would go out and live his life. This was where Heinz had shouted out at him furiously, "I'm a divorced man with a teenage daughter who barely even likes me with a robot who is beyond annoying who wants me to call him 'Dad' and I get beat up daily by a blue platypus and you think I have a _great life?_ And you know what's even _funnier? _Perry the Platypus will be here in no time flat to ruin _your _evil scheme, and I won't be hurt a bit!"

The evil scientist kidnapper had promptly beat the kidnappee senseless, only interrupted when said blue platypus busted in and beat _him_ senseless. Doofenshmirtz remembered the huge relief when his nemesis had broke in to the old house, and surprised to see the overwhelming anger and fury the platypus let off. When the kidnapper was knocked out, bruised and bleeding, Perry had turned to his nemesis, undoing the ropes binding him. Then Perry took out a marker and a card, writing on it. After that he promptly handed it to Doof, a frustrated look in his mahogany eyes. Uncertain, Doof took it, reading, _Next time you get in trouble, call this number. Or if you need to contact me for any reason. If it's a life or death emergency, use the one at the bottom. If not, use the phone number above it._

Doof stared at his nemesis, a confused look on his face. Then he smiled at pointed at Perry teasingly. "Perry the Platypus were you _worried _for me?"

Of course after that Doof recieved a slap from Perry's tail.

The evil scientist smirked as he recalled the memory, looking at the card, then swallowed his fear as he dialed in the top number.

**~at the Flynn-Fletcher home~**

Perry jerked when he felt his watch beep. Placing a paw over it subtly, he twitched, slipping away from Phineas's hold, pretending to go to the bathroom where the litter box was. When he reached the bathroom he entered one of the lower cupboards, taking an elevator down to where his lair was. The elevator came to a smooth and silent halt. The doors slid open. Perry walked out, going to his small phone where it sat ringing, waiting for him to answer. The platypus narrowed his eyes. This was the only phone he had besides his watch. It was used only for emergencies, and the only people that had the number was Doofenshmirtz and Phineas (he had scrawled the number on the dresser with a permanent marker. Phineas was smart enough to figure it out).

Phineas and Ferb were a-ok upstairs, but Doof on the other hand . . .

Perry grit his teeth together, finally grabbing the phone, holding it up to his ear. He gave out his usual chatter, a bite of a growl coming out of his throat._What? _he seemed to be growling.

"Oh, Perry the Platypus you answered! I'm so glad!" Doof's voice came in from the other end. "I was worried you wouldn't answer."

Again Perry growled, his hands clenching the phone tightly. His eyes furrowed in anger as his heart twisted. He tried to ignore it.

He heard Doof clear his throat as he went on. "Anyway, I was just calling to, ah, tell you. . ."

Perry growled, irritated. Doof tried to keep talking, "I-I'm sorry i just keep blabbing. Um, Perry the Platypus, I wanted to apologize."

The platypus stilled, stiffening, enclosing his hand more firmly around the phone. Doof continued on. "And, Peter the Panda isn't my nemesis anymore."

Joy sprung up in Perry's chest. Like a huge weight was being lifted from his chest. The platypus leaned back on his feet, keeping his relieved sigh at bay. Doof was quiet from the other end. "A-Anyway, we can't really talk together, but I signed us up to see a doctor. He's called Dr. Feelbetter. I was hoping maybe if we went we'd be able to straighten a few things out. Does, ah, does that sound okay to you?"

Gentler now, Perry chattered softly.

"I, uh. I'll take that as a yes then. The appointment is in two days. Will I see you then?"

Perry nodded weakly. Doof coughed awkwardly, and without saying goodbye, hung up.

**so one of my new bestest fanfic friends (names Nostrils on the Bus) asked me if i was going to carry this fanfiction through the Across the Second Dimension movie. and i was wondering if you guys had any thoughts on that, such as do you want me to do it? or would it ruin the story in some way? :3 your thoughts please! :D**


	18. Chapter 17: An Alliance?

Chapter 17: An Alliance?

Perry looked at himself in the mirror. His head felt empty without wearing his trademark hat. It felt too weird. The platypus straightened his posture, glaring in to the mirror in determination. This was it. He was going to confront Doof.

The platypus walked to the secret studio where the show was taking place. Agents snuck in from around, and Perry could have sworn he saw Chester and Brown come in as well. Perry entered the building, a little nervous. From inside he could hear the sound of the agents and their nemesis's settling down in to their seats. The platypus swallowed a little nervously, finally stepping out in front of the small crowd of agents and evil scientists. In the front he spotted Chester, and a row back sat Brown. The platypus stared at them, giving them a small wave as Dr. Feelbetter urged him in to sit at the chair. Perry was clapped for as Dr. Feelbetter announced him, and there were quieter claps when Dr. Doofenshmirtz was brought in. The platypus gave him a suspicious glance when Doof gave him an uncertain stare before awkwardly walking to his own chair a few feet away from Perry's.

"Ever wonder about how it would feel to lose your nemesis?" Dr. Feelbetter started. "Well that's precisely what our first guest, Perry the Platypus is here about." The doctor knelt down by Perry's chair. "Perry the Platypus, would you like to share your thoughts?"

Doof interrupted. "Uh, I'm sorry but, but he's a platypus. He doesn't talk."

After a few moments of awkward silence, the Doctor spoke up. "I see, and this, communication issue-"

_Oh great here we go again, _Perry thought, trying not to roll his eyes in annoyance. He jerked awake a few seconds later when Doof went on.

"Well, yeah he's a platypus. He doesn't talk, just like Peter the Panda, he's a panda!"

Perry tried not to scoff. _If only you knew._

"I see. Because he's an animal he doesn't talk?" The doctor went on. Again, Perry held back the temptation to roll his eyes. Clueless evil scientists.

"Of course not what kind of an evil scientist are you?" Doof exclaimed, sounding shocked but accusing.

Dr. Feelbetter went on. "Rigth. Doctor, what if I told you, Peter the Panda, was backstage, right now?"

Perry saw something in Doof freeze in place. His old nemesis looked shocked, confused and scared. "Wh-What? P-Peter the Panda is _here? " _Gasps came in from the crowd.Doof looked over at Perry, starting to tap his fingers together. "P-Perry the Platypus I had no idea!"

Of course Perry was able to tell whether Doof was lying or not, it was quite easy, since Doof was such a terrible liar anyhow, and this time he knew that Doof was telling the truth. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but Dr. Feelbetter went on. "Ladies and gentleman, Peter the Panda!"

The panda came in to the room, receiving boos from the audience. He waved his arms, as if trying to urge their boos away. He slowed down to a stop as he came to the center of the stage between Doof and Perry. The platypus tried not to roll his eyes again, but he threw an annoyed look at the panda. As if the audience wasn't doing that enough.

"Anyway, Peter the Panda, why don't you tell us what happened?" Dr. Feelbetter asked the Panda as someone brought in another chair next to Doof. Peter jumped in to it, watching Perry with equally narrowed eyes.

"I told you he's a panda, he doesn't talk!" Doof insisted.

"Oh I see. Is this miscommunication another reason why Peter the Panda stopped being _your _nemesis, doctor?" Feelbetter asked.

Peter the Panda bristled with unease. Doof's shoulders hunched up a little. "Wh-What? How did you know that?"

_Wow he's got the dirt on everyone, _Perry speculated, _except on the agents' real identity of course. _

Peter looked at all of the agents and evil scientists around, digging in to where a pocket would be and took out a notepad that was already written on. Dr. Feelbetter reached for it, starting to read aloud. "_I was at an Evil Genius expo watching to make sure none of the evil scientists were stirring up trouble, and so I stopped Doofenshmirtz from carrying out an evil scheme, and, well, I just hated him instantly. Then he decided that we should become nemesis's. _He's _the one that wanted to go with the idea." _Dr. Feelbetter addressed the panda. "But you went along with it."

The panda shrugged innocently. The doctor read on. "_I had no idea that Doofenshmirtz already had another nemesis. No idea at all. But then _that platypus _comes crashing in thinking that Doofenshmirtz is _his. _It sounded to me like he was more of a friend than a nemesis. He's probably gone soft."_

Perry bristled, clenching his fists against the arms of the chair. He glared over at the panda. _That isn't what happened and you know it! _

Peter gave him a smirk, then turned to the audience, tearing up and starting to cry. He pulled out another pen and notepad. He handed it to Dr. Feelbetter. _"And that platypus is so mean! When I went to talk to him about it he nearly killed me trying to beat me up! He said that Doofenshmirtz was his, and he better stay away from him or he'd make sure I did!"_

There were sympathetic moans from the evil scientists in the room. The agents however, being more perceptive, just growled at the panda, their hearts itching with anger at an agent who could be so dishonest and betraying. Perry kept hold of the arms of his chair. Chester's advice echoed in his mind. _Don't push him Perry. He might be small, but I can tell he's dangerous. _

The platypus swallowed, growling out at Peter in animalspeak. All of the agents in the room snapped their heads at the platypus. Animalspeak is what the agents called for the language they had made up, mixed with sounds of growls, grunts and whatever sounds that the animals made. It was made for when it was a time the agents _had _to talk to each other in case of emergency and couldn't afford to let others understand it.

This was an emergency. But it became more than that. This was a battle of wits and of pride. All of the agents knew how serious this was.

"_That's a lie and you know it,_" the platypus growled darkly, the fur on his shoulders beginning to stand on end.

Peter turned his head to him. "_Oh is it?"_

"_Of course it is, idiot," _Perry growled. "_And remember where your place is. I'm your senior."_

"_How did you know that?" _Peter snarled at him, showing his teeth.

The platypus smirked. "_Oh I have my ways."_

The panda looked threatened. His eyes darkened as he snarled out quietly, "_Well don't think I don't know anything about you."_

Perry held back the temptation to roll his eyes again. "_Oh come on. Like what? You don't know anything about me."_

"_Is that so, Kid?"_

The platypus froze. From the audience he heard a familiar chorus of growls and snarls. A turtle growl stood out among all of them. A high cat snarl sounded from the audience, synchronized with all of the other agents'.

"_What do you know?" _Perry asked, glaring at the panda.

"_Oh, enough. I know you grew up on the streets by yourself. I know you're only a pathetic eighteen year old and you joined when you were thirteen."_

"_Is that all?_" the platypus asked in a bored tone. "_Everybody knows that. You're new to this party aren't you? Everyone knows that you're only a thirteen year old _pretending _to be an agent. You haven't even finished your training yet."_

"_How would you know?" _the panda snarled.

"_No panda is only three feet tall. They're huge. And I can smell the fear scent coming off of you. I may be just a kid, but at least I'm not a _stupid _kid."_

Peter snapped. Letting out a huge roar of anger, the panda launched himself at Perry, who dodged him easily. He felt the other agents stir, but he held up his tail, signaling for them to stay back; this was his quarrel, and no one else's.

As the panda spun to face Perry, the platypus slapped his tail against his back, using the same trick he used on Terance when the turtle first joined. He could hear the laughter from his old apprentice in the audience. "_He used that on me all the time!"_

Perry smirked in amusement, facing the panda once again. He straightened himself out, holding a palm out, urging for the young agent to come to him.

Letting out a furious roar, Peter jumped at him once more, aiming for Perry's throat. The platypus jumped to meet him, twisted his body in midair, slapping the panda across the face and across the room. The panda slid on the floor; when he sat up, there was a huge mark where the tail slapped him.

Peter trembled in anger. Overwhelmed with fury, and knowing he couldn't hurt the platypus no matter how hard he tried, he took it out on the furniture, throwing as much as he could at the entrance to stage left. No one tried to stop him. The agents watched in silence, knowing that this was the only way for the angry panda to get it out of his system. The evil scientists only watched in confusion, not having a single clue as to what was going on. When it ended, Dr. Feelbetter addressed Peter, "Ah, thank you Peter, I've been wanting to have that furniture stacked." Now addressing Doofenshmirtz, Dr. Feelbetter directed, "Dr. Doofenshmirtz, tell Perry the Platypus how you feel."

The look Doofenshmirtz had when he heard that suggested he'd rather do anything _but _that. Mustering up his courage, he turned to Perry. "Perry the Platypus, I, I'm so sorry I hurt you, when I wasn't really trying to hurt you. If you give me another chance, I promise to hurt you in the right way, with cartoon-ish physical violence and elaborate traps constructed out of strange things I got out of the internet. What do you say?" Doof got on his knees, holding out his arms, an apologetic smile on his face. Perry tried not to cry as a huge 'Aaawww' went out from the crowd.

He blinked away his tears as Dr. Feelbetter came down next to Perry, holding the microphone close to the platypus. "Well? What do you say Perry the Platypus?"

After another moment, and a glance between him and Doof, Perry reached down and pulled out his hat. A releived sigh went out over the crowd.

Overwhelmed by emotion, Doof covered his face with his hands, "Oh thank you Perry the Platypus!" Perry smirked at him gratefully, watching as the evil scientist stood up. "Now!" The evil scientist let out a viscous laugh. "I can't believe that worked! You know, Peter the Panda _thought _he had disassembled my freezinator ray, but that was just a decoy. . ."

_What? Was it a complete scam the entire time? Doof! _Betrayal coated Perry's heart as he glared at the evil scientist. Doof revealed his plot to everyone, finally turning to Perry, who tried to get out of his restraints. "Hey Perry the Platypus you don't mind if I say goodbye to Peter the Panda do you? I just feel bad the way things turned out."

Perry held back an annoyed and furious growl. _No way! _He wanted to snap.

"Hey uh, Peter the Panda, I just wanted to let you know that uh-" The panda glared at Doofenshmirtz, interrupting him by kicking him in the face. Using the distraction, Perry turned over the chair and moved it forward to smash the Freezinator ray out of harm's way. Doof sat up quickly. "Where's the remote?"

Perry, seeing it over a couple feet away, adjusted his body so that his tail fell down on the remote, smashing it to pieces and releasing all of the agents from their cuffs.

It was a complete madhouse. All of the agents immediately started fighting their nemesis' with claws, teeth, (tongues?) and tails. Perry looked at Doofenshmirtz who was contentedly passed out, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Perry stole a glance to Peter. _Glad that one's over, _his eyes read.

Peter, understanding, just looked at him. Realizing that both of them had helped each other, Perry lifted his hand in a gracious salute, with the panda returning it at the same time. Perry offered a small smirk to Peter, jumping away. He had to go home now. This day had been crazy enough already.

He looked over his shoulder at the panda, something in him a little confused but wary. Had an alliance just been formed?

**Sorry it's late XD but i've been a little busy (meaning i'v been slacking off for a few days). I'll try to have the next chapter up tomorrow. :3 **

**and soez, after taking in what some of my reviewers have said, and making some judgments on my own, I decided that no, I dont think I'll write the ATSD from this storyline, and if I do, it'll be in a separate story, not this one. (same plotline though) Lolz remember when I said I thought this story would be like super long? Well, now it feels like its going to be super short XD **


	19. Chapter 18: An Old Frend

Chapter 18: An Old Frend (its spelled that way on purpose)

~**a whoppin' two years later. Perry is like, twenty now o.o Phineas and ferb are 14. candace is . . .18? how time does fly! :D~**

Perry looked up brokenly from his platypus bed. Pictures of the years hung on the wall, most of them of his owners, their family, friends, and him. Just the sight of their pictures made his eyes water. Why? Why did it have to end up this way? Why why why?

It had only been two days since that day. That day when they had all gone to that other dimension and fought off the Alternate Doofenshmirtz. Two days ago when Phineas, Ferb and Candace had found out that Perry was a secret agent. And it has now been two days since Phineas and Ferb with all of their friends had their minds erased. Even Doofenshmirtz had his mind erased, which to Perry, seemed kind of pointless, except that Doof would have been able to find out where Perry lived and could use Phineas and Ferb to hurt Perry and maybe destroy him.

Or turn him in to a Platyborg.

Perry shuddered, not wanting to see that ever, ever, ever again. That twisted self he had become in that dimension was just so, twisted. He wondered how he would look if he had been in his human form . . .

The platypus looked over at the calender, smirking to himself. July 4. It was his birthday today, which made it all the more painful, the way Phineas and Ferb would smile at him later on tonight, holding a big platypus shaped birthday cake.

Perry dug his face in to his furry arm, hiding back the tears. They pushed through anyway, not caring whether he wanted them to be there or not. The platypus began to cry, remembering the looks on Phineas and Ferb's face when they said good bye to each other, when they looked at each other for the last time, it was too much. Yesterday when Monogram decided to grant him the entire week off, Perry didn't understand, but now he did. He was a wreck, and emotional wreck.

"Don't worry about Doofenshmirtz," Monogram promised. "We'll send Agent C and D to watch him and make sure that he doesn't stir up any trouble. Go home and relax Agent P. You deserve it. We'll contact you next week if Doofenshmirtz isn't up to any good."

Perry allowed the sobs to continue, finally stopping when it seemed that there were no more tears left to cry. This was just to painful. How could this have happened? Why did it have to turn out this way?

"Fate is a cruel thing," he allowed himself to murmur. He wiped away the remains of his tears, annoyed by the brittle feeling the dried liquid left behind. His heart felt heavy. The platypus stood up to his feet, jumping on to Phineas's bed, looking outside where they played, designing some new invention. They wouldn't be needing him today.

Deciding what to do, Perry jumped down to one of his secret entrances, taking the elevator down to his secret lair, where he picked up his cell phone he carried with him at all times, dialing in one of his friend's numbers. He held the phone to his ear, the same sad feeling weighing in his chest. The other end rang a few times, and at last someone picked up. There was a sort of chatter from the other end, like a hello.

"Terance?" Perry asked.

The chatter turned to silence. Understanding they could talk, the turtle replied. "Hey Perry."

"Monogram gave you the week off too?"

"Yeah," his old apprentice answered.

After a few moments in quiet, Perry spoke, "Do you, want to go get some coffee?"

The turtle's reply was grateful and relieved. "Yeah sure. Where do you want to go?"

* * *

><p>Perry sat with his friend, toying with the coffee cup sadly. Terance (now named Terry) watched him with equally sad eyes. The orange turtle sipped from his own cup. "So they don't show any signs of remembering?"<p>

"Or ever remembering," the platypus answered solemnly, his hat low over his eyes. He looked up to Terry, broken hearted. "Why did this have to happen T? Why? Why did we have to go to that stupid other dimension? If we had never gone, then this never would have happened. I wouldn't feel so, so . . ."

"Bad?"

"Horrible. Guilty. Rotten. Like nothing will ever be okay again."

The platypus looked up to Terry. "You went to the other dimension. What did you think?"

Terry shrugged. "It was just a mission to me. You were the only person I knew who was involved in it. To me, it was no different than the missions I've always had to do. That's the thing about missions, you can't allow yourself to get emotionally caught up in to it, or it'll ruin you and the job you need to accomplish."

"That's the thing, we succeeded in the mission, but-"

"I know," the turtle answered, looking at Perry solemnly. Perry looked to his old apprentice, remembering that the turtle was five more years older than him. In many ways his apprentice was wiser than he was. The platypus realized with a start that the age he now was wasn't even the age Terry had been when he became an apprentice.

_I still have so much to learn, _the platypus thought, feeling melancholy. He was twenty years old now. Still three years behind Terry.

"You're twenty five now, right Shell?" the platypus asked, a dead tone still in his voice.

"Yeah. So you're, what nineteen?"

"Twenty today," the platypus said.

Terry laughed, slapping his cup down and alerting all of the agents in the OWCA cafe. "That means you're a man now Kid! Dang you've been a man for two years now! How's it feel?"

Perry smirked. "Like the whole world is on my shoulders."

"Yeah I don't doubt that." Terance smiled at him. "In fact that means you can start looking for a lady friend can't you?"

"Forget it Shell. When I was a kid there was a reason why I chose a platypus, so I wouldn't be distracted by stuff like that." However as Perry said it, he couldn't help but feel a little sunken. Now that he was older, he kind of wanted to be a father. Maybe have a kid of his own. He didn't want to have that with a mindless animal.

"That's hardcore," the turtle said, sipping his.

"What about you?" Perry asked, starting to feel a little more like his real self. "You ever had kids or a girl?"

"Me? The army boy? Forget it. I didn't have anyone to live for except myself back then, what was the point of looking for a girl?"

"I was thirteen so you can see the conflict," Perry smiled.

Terry laughed again. "So you plan on anything for your birthday Kid?"

Perry smirked. "I'm doing it."

"Seriously? Hanging out with a newbie agent? Lame. Shouldn't you be with your family, namely, Phineas and Ferb?"

The teal platypus flinched, taking another sip of his coffee. "I'd rather not. I've become too attached to them. I should probably distant myself from them."

The turtle rolled his eyes. "Perry, it's okay for you to love them. Come on if the army had to follow those rules, there would be no soldiers who didn't have a family to fight for. You having the boys _gives _you something and someone to fight for. It's what makes you such a legend at the agency."

Perry looked up. "'Legend'?"

Terance smiled. "You don't know about how famous you are?"

Perry blinked, "Uh, what?"

"Dude! You're famous at the OWCA! I've heard people calling you the best agent here that we have! The youngest too. They call you the Platypus Master or something like that." Terry sat back, smirking to himself. "My mentor the Platypus Master."

Completely shocked, Perry stared and broke out in to laughter. "Okay now _that's _funny!"

Terry smiled, pleased that his job brightening up his friend was turning in to a success. "Well it's true! And why wouldn't they love you? You're the youngest agent that's ever joined the agency, you've fought off more battles than I can count, and you've almost died frequently on your missions!"

"Just because I'm not dead yet that doesn't make me a great agent," Perry said a little sadly, thinking of RJ. He wished he could have been here. . . The funny raccoon always had a knack for brightening up the other agents.

Following Agent P's train of thought, Terry smiled. "I wish I could have met him."

"Yeah he was a great guy," Perry responded, smiling. "A total goofball with Brown too. Always bantering. . ."

Terry kept up his smile. Perry rubbed his eye gently, looking out at the city, which was still alive with people. Perry tuned his ears to the sound of the voices, the sound of humans bustling about, not a care in the world, busy with their own problems, not realizing that somewhere there was a blue platypus with the most broken heart in the world.

"Want to go for a walk?" Terry asked, his eyes sympathetic for the hurt memories that were flipping through Perry's mind.

"Yeah." Perry reached in for the money in his pocket, but Terry slapped down the money before Perry could even pull his out. "Don't even think about it Blue. I've got this. Happy birthday."

Knowing there was no point in fighting, Perry merely rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever."

"Because you're a MAN NOW!" Terry yelled out with emphasis. Perry laughed loudly as he walked out with Terry, breathing in the fresh air that swamped his lungs.

"I love being outside."

"Me too. We should try to convince our nemesis' to have more evil schemes outside, particularly during summer when it's nice out."

Perry smiled, getting on to his four paws as they began to merge with the people. Most people didn't notice them, a platypus and a turtle walking side by side, whispering words to each other in Animalspeak. Humans could be so dense sometimes.

They kept walking, only stopping when they came to a particular alley. Perry froze, staring down the familiar road of stone and walls. Down at the end a homeless guy lay. Perry tasted the air, looking down at the man who was knocked out as he slept in a makeshift bed of old dirty blankets on cardboard. Perry scented his smell, entering the alley, stepping closer to him. He strained his platypus ears, tuning them to listen to the sound of his breathing, the tone of his voice as it let out weak snores.

He was a bit older now, but it couldn't be, could it?

"Fred?" Perry whispered.

As he whispered the man's name, his eyes snapped open. Tired gray eyes faced him; Perry took a hesitant step back, his own brown orbs locked on the man. His former name was whispered out weakly, "Kid?"

**when i started this story i had like three chapters previous to what i was going to write, but now im like AAAAAHHHH IM BEHIND! **

**haha! not anymore though. im finishing this chapter a day early! :D im da MAN! even tho ima girl . . . w/e. XD**

**so heres da deal. im going to spokane, washington (ROAD TRIP! :D) and its like 5 hours from where i is. which to my family isn't very long cuz we travel ALL THE TIME so 5 hours is like nothing (a fact i take pride in). and im going to spokane to go see the Beauty and the Beast musical (BROADWAY! YEAH MAN!), so i dont know if i'll have any chapters up this weekend. friday, yes, assuming i write some more, but sat. and sun. im unsure of, just a warning there :3**

**so thats it. pray for our safe travels! cuz the roads could be iffy. so pray for us! :D**


	20. Chapter 19: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Chapter 19: A Walk Down Memory Lane

~**to Doofenshmirtz~**

The evil scientist ran down the street, his breath course in his throat, gasping for air. He clutched the flowers protectively close to his chest, his eyes wild with fear. "I can't miss it! I can't miss it! I have to do this! Oh how could I have forgotten? How could I have forgotten?"

He kept running until he got to where his destination was. Ugh of all days for Norm to break down! And of course there was an extreme lack of taxis due to the summer holiday. Doof had been forced to go with the only alternative, running to the cemetary.

Walking respectively in as he caught his breath, Doof came to the small tombstone. He got down to his knees, brushing away the dirt and vegetation that had grown on it in the past year. He placed his flower bouquet in the holder so only the wondrous blooms showed. He smiled at them fondly, remembering the child's smile, so rare and filled with kindness that could have been wiped out from living on the streets.

"I'm so sorry," the evil scientist apologized. "I'm so stupid. How could I have forgotten? And I'm a whole month late too. I'm such a horrible person. . ." Doofenshmirtz wiped his nose with his sleeve, his turquoise eyes grieved, filled with self-pity. "Every year it feels like you're growing farther and farther away, but, it's like you're always close by."

Starting to regain his breath, Doofenshmirtz reached a hand forward, running it back and forth against the rough top of the gravestone. "I'm sorry I was late again."

Nearby, out of Doofenshmirtz's sight, a black cat watched silently.

~**to Perry and Terry~**

Perry's eyes widened, staring down at the familiar face. "Fred?" he whispered again. "Fred is that you?"

He only received a stare. "What kind of ungodly creature is talking to me?" the man responded.

Perry tried to hide back a smile. He lifted the droopy hat that covered part of Fred's eyes. "Fred. Fred it's me! It's Kid!"

He didn't seem to believe the platypus. "You're not Kid. Kid is bigger." Sleep coated his voice.

The platypus rolled his eyes. "Fred it's really me! Come on, you know me! Why else would I have blue fur?"

Fred sat up, removing his hat. His hair had become shorter now in these past seven years. It's shade became more of a silver gray, his eyes more weary. The man stared down at him. "Kid? But, how is that possible?"

Standing on his hind legs now, Perry shuffled his feet. "Well, it's kind of confidential."

Fred narrowed his eyes. "But, it's really you?"

Perry smiled up at him. "It's really me." He tipped his hat to him.

"Kid!" Fred swept his arms forward, pulling the platypus in to a tight and warm hug. "Oh Kid I thought you were dead! B-But you're alive!"

Perry laughed, hugging around Fred's neck as best as he could. "I've missed you buddy."

Finally putting him down, Fred looked over Perry. Catching a flicker of golden light, the man reached his old hands forward to finger the golden locket that hung from the platypus's red collar. "What's this?"

The platypus opened up the locket, showing his two owners and himself as a platy-kid. "It's my family."

Fred seemed touched. "Y-You have a family now?"

"Kind of the family pet."

Beaming, Fred seemed to radiate like the sun. He ruffled the side of Perry's head, his eyes bright with happiness. "Oh I'm so glad you found a family Kid, even if you aren't exactly human anymore."

The platypus smiled up at his old friend. "It's Perry now."

"Perry huh? You got a name too?"

The agent nodded.

"You still got your moves?"

"Oh you know it."

Fred laughed, wiping a happy tear from his eye. Catching sight of Terry, he looked at the orange turtle. "Who are you?"

"Oh, this is my friend, Terry the Turtle. He was my apprentice."

Terry tipped his hat to the man, remaining in silence. He didn't know this man and would rather prefer to hold his tongue. Nothing personal.

"Can you talk?" Fred asked bluntly.

The turtle nodded. "We mostly choose not to," Perry informed. "It's part of our job to not speak unless it's a rare occasion like this one."

Fred nodded. "Of course. I understand." The man sat back, looking over Perry, still shocked. "How long has it been?"

"About seven years," the platypus admit a little shyly.

Fred pulled a hand through his thin, greasy hair. "_Seven years. _Man, that's one way to make an exit."

Perry laughed a little nervously. "How have you been Fred?"

"Fine. It's never been the same here without you though. It was nice actually having a young person around."

Perry smirked. Suddenly Fred brightened up, "Hey, today is your birthday isn't it?"

The platypus looked up to him. "I suppose so."

"Hey, come on I've got something to show you," Fred said, standing to his feet. "You can come along too turtle if you want. You might be interested in it. Let's go!"

Urged by curiosity, the turtle and platypus followed suit.

Perry entered the cemetery with Fred and Terry cautiously, his eyes opened wide with a sense of confusion. What was it that Fred wanted to show them?

The man continued to lead the pair, guiding them through the field of stones marked with dead bodies. Perry kept glancing around carefully, watching for any signs of attack. He scented the air.

The platypus came to a halt the same time Fred did, for almost the same reason. "Well look at that. Someone's here for you Kid."

The platypus peeked out from behind Fred's legs, his eyes going immediately to the person he smelled. His breath caught in his throat, immediately turning around and jumping to the shelter of another gravestone where he couldn't be seen. The person kneeling at the grave smelled like almond brittle, and faintly of motor oil.

Doofenshmirtz.

Fred stared at Perry's incognito escapade, shrugged, and continued on to the small grave. Following more precariously now, the platypus agent hid behind gravestones as he got closer. When Fred reached the gravestone, Doofenshmirtz was sitting on his knees, his head bowed. A firm hand was placed on the scientist's shoulders. Doof didn't rise his head. "So you knew him?" Fred's deep voice rumbled.

Doof sniffed; he had been crying. Perry felt his heart twist. "Yeah."

_It's _my _gravestone, _the platypus realized with a start. _Doof is at _my _gravestone! I didn't know that I meant that much to him. _The platypus peeked out from behind the stone he hid behind. He caught a brief flash of color by Doof. _And he brought flowers. Has he been doing this every year? _Guilt rapped at Perry's heart. A part of him wanted to tell Doof, assure him that he was okay.

But he didn't. It was against protocol.

The platypus pressed himself to the cold hard stone, listening quietly. Fred questioned the grieving man. "How did you know him?"

"I met him a little before he died," Doof said quietly. "He got pretty beat up and I found him, so I took him in for a day so he could rest a little." Doof gave an unhumored laugh. "He didn't even last a day. That kid was always moving around, could never sit still."

"No doubt about that," Fred said, coming and sitting down next to Doofenshmirtz. Terry slipped quietly away, taking refuge behind a stone across from Perry's. The homeless man reached a hand to Doofenshmirtz. "I'm Fred. I helped raise Kid."

Doof sniffed, shaking the man's hand. "I'm Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz."

The pair turned their gazes back to the stone, Doof's eyes more sad than Fred's. "It was about two months after I met him," he started, "when I decided I wanted to adopt him. But when I went to go find him, I found out he had died two weeks previous."

Perry's world stopped. The train of thought in his mind screeched to a stop as another one sped off, racing through his brain.

Doof wanted to adopt him.

Perry's eyes stretched wide as he slid down the side of the stone until he touched ground. He placed a hand over his mouth in shock. _Doof had wanted to adopt him._

Terry was staring at Perry with wide eyes. "_Are you okay?" _the turtle whispered.

Weakly, Perry nodded, pulling his knees up to his chest. He listened more to Doof's speaking. "I really wanted to help him, you know? But not just because he was living on the street, I honestly wanted him to come and live with me. I wanted for him to have someone he could call Dad. I wanted him to have a chance to be part of a family. He probably would have got along with Vanessa great too."

Fred woke from his daze, patting Doof kindly. "Thanks for looking out for him when the rest of us couldn't. You were going to give him something that the people he had been living with _never _could have given him. What would have really pleased him was that you wanted to take him in not just because you felt pitiful for him."

Doof gave a breath of laughter. "I never felt pity for him. He was always so tough and strong-willed. I knew that he could take care of himself."

"So you wanted to take him in because of who he was?"

The evil scientist nodded tiredly. Fred granted him a couple more pats. "That's all he would have asked for."

Doof stood up, "I better be going now. It's getting to be late."

Fred rose to his feet as well. "Yeah. I need to go rally up with my friends."

Doofenshmirtz shook Fred's hand again. "It was great to have met you Fred. I'm really glad we got to meet each other."

"Me too."

Doofenshmirtz started to walk away first, while Fred stared at where Perry was hiding. "Kid?" he murmured.

The platypus held up his hand in a wave as he jumped away to follow his nemesis. Fred nodded, understanding. Perry turned his head to Terry, who gave him a hard glint and a nod.

Oh yeah, he was coming with.

The platypus and turtle settled to follow the nemesis. Perry made sure to taste the air as they went, sensing to make sure that no other agents were nearby, particularly Chester and Brown, seeing as they were supposed to check up on Doof and make sure he wasn't doing any evil. If they found out that Perry and Terry weren't relaxing on their day off the young agents could get in trouble.

"_I can't believe that he wanted to adopt me," _Perry chattered to his friend, running along quickly and silently.

Terry responded in the secret language. "_It's a good thing he doesn't know your real human identity then; both of you would be out of a job."_

A little annoyed and frustrated, Perry responded, "_Yeah but he thinks I'm dead. That isn't right."_

The orange turtle shrugged. "_It isn't our say to what is and isn't right. We're agents. We do as we're told to defeat our nemesis and maintain our secret identity. The OWCA owns us."_

Perry, a little annoyed and disappointed by this answer, merely scowled, continuing on to follow Doof's path. He made a reckless mistake though as he followed his nemesis, tripping on a rock and landing with a thud a few feet from Doof.

Turning around, Doof stared down at Perry. The platypus looked up at him, a flicker of sadness crossed the platypus's features before he looked away. "Perry the Platypus?" Doof murmured. "What are you doing here? I thought it was your week off. Here let me help you." Doof easily reached down, pulling on Perry's arm to hoist him up. The platypus stood shakily to his feet as his nemesis dusted him off. "There you go. Now what are you doing here?"

The platypus avoided his gaze, feeling like a child. He gave a shrug, keeping his eyes away from Doof's.

The evil scientist gave the platypus a kind smile. "Okay. Hey, you wanna come to my place? I can cook us some burgers, it is the Fourth of July after all."

Feeling a little reassured, the platypus nodded, casting a glance over his shoulder to see Terry. The turtle gave him a thumbs up, and a salute. _You've got this, _his eyes read.

Perry gave a subtle thumbs up back at him. _Thanks, _he answered.

"Well come on let's go to my aprartment then. Charlene and Vanessa should be coming over soon, though I don't know how long _Charlene _will stay with us. . ." Doof trailed off, his voice dripping with anger. The platypus elbowed him slightly, a questioning look in his eyes. Did they have another fight? Doof confirmed his suspicions. "We had another fight."

The platypus nodded, keeping step with his nemesis. It seemed though that the cemetery actually was a long way from where Doof lived, the platypus could feel his limbs getting sore and tired from keeping up with his nemesis.

_Ah screw it, _he thought, jumping up as he clawed his way up Doof's back, his platypus claws digging in to the lab coat. A part of Doof wasn't surprised when the platypus settled himself around Doof's shoulders, wrapping his body behind the evil scientist's neck. Doof laughed. "Tired of walking _already _Perry the Platypus? Don't you agents have to walk much further than that?"

Perry slapped Doof's face with his tail, but not that hard. He laid his head on his paws, not caring about the people who stared as the pair walked by. To most people he would probably look like some sort of expensive teal fur scarf. How out of place he must look around Doof's neck.

"Are you okay Perry the Platypus?" Doof asked. "This is really out of character for you."

The platypus merely sighed, not answering. He moved his gaze over to the sun as it blared down on the city. It remained high in the sky with much time before it had to go back to bed. "No really Perry the Platypus are you sure you're okay?"

Again, the platypus didn't answer, only staring out at the skyline. Doof decided it would be best to just not say anything.

Perry liked it this way.

**Hey guys, i'm finishing this chapter thursday afternoon, so I might have something for you on saturday :3**


	21. Chapter 20: Fireworks

Chapter 20: Fireworks

**~random author's note~ ** **CHAPTER 20 GUYS! WE MADE IT! WOOOOO! **

When the evil scientist and platypus reached the apartment, Perry slid from Doofenshmirtz's shoulders down to the floor. He looked around the apartment, which hadn't even been decorated for the summer holiday. "Do you want some cake?" Doof called as he entered the kitchen. "It's for tonight but I don't think anyone will mind if you have a slice."

Perry jumped in to the kitchen, leaping out on the counter. He sat down with his feet hanging over the counter top, a position he usually sat in when he waited for offered food by Doof. He didn't usually get cake, and it was his birthday after all.

Doof gave him a slice of the vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. The platypus took it thankfully, starting to eat it.

"So why did you need a week off?" the scientist asked, almost desperate to get the answers from the platypus.

The agent looked up and shrugged.

"Well there's no point in putting you on vacation if you're just going to come here anyway!" the scientist said, rolling his eyes.

Perry scratched the back of his head, shrugging again. He couldn't stand another moment in that house anyway. No way was he going back.

Doof looked at him. The agent moved his gaze away, not making eye contact. Doof spoke up, "Why won't you look at me Perry the Platypus?"

Looking at Doof would mean recalling the memories of going to the other dimension. No way was he going to do that.

The platypus shrugged again. Doof groaned. "Whatever." The evil scientist started stuffing his face with the cake. Perry let out a chatter after swallowing a mouthful, gesturing to the room.

"Well, the party is going to be at Charlene's actually. There's no need for me to decorate, and I don't like getting my placed all dressed up for the holidays except for Christmas."

Perry looked up at the doctor, finishing off the rest of his cake. He flicked his eyes over to the door, smirking when Norm entered. "Sir! I brought muffins!"

"I don't _want _any muffins Norm!"

"But it's muffin time Sir!"

"You're broken!"

Perry smirked sadly, wiping at the tears. That was the exact exchange, word for word when Norm and Alternate Doof had argued with each other. Doof, noticing the platypus rubbing his eyes, looked down at his nemesis. A frown formed over the man's features. "Okay what is it Perry the Platypus? And don't lie to me, I know when someone is lying, now what's wrong?"

The platypus shook his head at his nemesis. He wasn't allowed to explain it anyway; there was no point in going in to detail. But Doof glared at him angrily, his nostrils flared and he snapped out, "Perry the Platypus will you just tell me the truth already? What is going on?"

With the same sad smile, Perry shook his head, reaching behind his back to take out a card. On it he wrote, "_I'm a platypus. We don't get to talk."_

Understanding the wording, Doof looked at him. "So you _can _talk?"

Perry rolled his eyes, pulling his knees up close to his chest, placing his chin on his knees. He felt Doof glare as the man grabbed Perry's face, holding it firmly with one large hand, kind of squishing Perry's cheeks together. He looked angry, like he was about to snap something at his nemesis, quick, witty and sharp, but he merely closed his eyes, shoved the platypus away and reached for his keys. "Whatever. Do you need a ride somewhere?"

Looking at the doctor uncertainly, Perry jumped down, pulling his hat lower over his head. He followed Doofenshmirtz out the door, feeling rotten. As he walked next to Doof he could feel the angry aura that the evil scientist seemed to give off. The platypus only looked at his nemesis once or twice as they walked to the car. Perry leaped in to the passenger side, pulling down the seatbelt to meet the buckle. He settled in to the chair, remembering last time he had been in this car. It happened years ago, seven years ago to be exact. It felt like an eternity ago, or had it only been a few seconds?

Time does fly.

The platypus directed with silent points in which way to go. Doof followed obediently, not speaking to him. Perry could read by the flush of his cheeks and the furrowing of his eyebrows that he remained angry with the monotreme next to him. Silence kept their tongues at bay.

"You're acting weird," Doof said stubbornly at last. "If you can't tell anyone what's going on, let alone your nemesis, what are you gonna do? Did something happen? Did someone in your family die?"

Doof had stopped at a red light. He shifted his eyes over to the platypus, who stared down at the ground before finally nodding. Almost instantly Doof's expression softened. "Who was it?" he asked.

Perry touched the rim of his hat for the sign boy, then moved it down across his left in a small D. Over the years the pair had learned a few signs to help them understand each other more. Doof's face showed sympathy. "Your brother? I'm sorry."

_Both, _Perry signed. _Two brothers. _

"You lost _two _brothers?"

Perry nodded weakly, putting his head in his hands. Doof reached over to pat the platypus gently. He sighed, "I'm sorry Perry the Platypus. I don't know what it's like to lose a brother. In all honesty I'd be rather grateful if my brother kicked the royal bucket."

The platypus smiled at him, moving his eyes back down. Phineas and Ferb's faces flickered in his mind like a movie reel of pictures.

"You just have to take it day by day," he said. "That's the only way you can ever move on. It'll take time, and it'll hurt, but you'll heal. Sometimes healing is more painful than getting the wound itself." Doof smirked, "Or so I've been told."

The scientist sighed. "I lost a son you know."

Perry's head snapped over at Doof. _Since when?_

"His name was Kid. No really. I had wanted to adopt him." _Oh that, _Perry's fur started to relax again. "But when I finally decided to, I found out that he had drowned in the river two weeks before. I never got to say good bye to him."

Perry smirked, reaching over to Doof to give him a couple gentle pats on his head. "Thank you Perry the Platypus." The evil scientist continued driving.

Perry sighed sadly, and made a stopping gesture to Doof as they turned in to a back alley. "Here?" Doof asked, looking over the alley. Pain lingered in the man's gaze. "You, you want me to drop you off here?"

The platypus looked around at the old alleyway. It was the same one he'd always lived in. What was wrong with it? He looked at Doof as if to say, _Yeah so what?_

Doof shrugged. "Okay. Bye Perry the Platypus. Happy Fourth!"

The platypus closed the car door, bolting in to the alley and jumping in a trash can. Immediately the supposed trash can transported him to the tree in his backyard. He slipped out of the exit, just in time for, "Oh there you are Perry, you almost missed burgers!"

A few hours later in the waning darkness, fireworks lit up the inky black sky. Kids oo'd and aaah'd at the spectacular colors. Perry's heart felt warmed as he was hugged by his boys tightly. There were still traces of his birthday cake on their face. The platypus snuggled deeper in to their hold, relaxing in his owners' hold.

"This is the best day ever," they said together, snuggling him closely.

_Second best, _the platypus thought.

**Personally I thought this chapter was lame-o. (skims through* ugh its short too. I'm feeling a lack of action, which is ok, cuz action is coming up! (soon I hope) **

**im in the car driving to spokane as I type this (friday at dusk. The sun is just starting to go down but it isn't in full affect yet. So I guess it's . .. . sunset? who knows). Thanks to all of you who have prayed and wished me well on my journey to the washington apple state! olive garden tonight for dinner, which is awesome cuz we dont have one where I live (depressing I know). x3 beauty and the beast play tomorrow night, I can't wait to go! **


	22. Chapter 21: Malfunction?

Chapter 21: Malfunction?

"Forget it Perry the Platypus there's no way that you're getting out of this trap, it's made out of the strongest plastic known to man! Don't look at me that way plastic is just as strong as metal!"

Perry smirked, waiting for the exact moment he could take out the fire tool on his hat. It had been a month since going across the second dimension, and things were finally starting to settle back in to their original sequence.

"Now, watch Perry the Platypus as I take over all of the tri-state area with my Notreeinator! It will destroy all of the trees, but _I _will be the only one who has any trees, so everyone will have to come buy trees from _me. _I'll make a fortune!"

Perry rolled his eyes, pulling off his hat and working on melting his plastic container. Hmm it was pretty useful.

The platypus stepped out of the melting blob of plastic, careful not to burn himself, launching himself at his nemesis. Doof let out a grunt of pain as Perry knocked him in to the ground. Doofenshmirtz, thinking quickly, grabbed a wrench, hurling it at the platyus, only to miss him by a mile.

"Oh _come on!" _

Perry prepared to leap on him again, but Doof pulled out a gun, forcing the platypus back against the wall. The breath caught out of Perry when he collided with the hard surface. His small body crumpled to the ground. Okay he just had to catch his breath. He breathed deeply.

Knowing he his nemesis was fine, the scientist went on, "You're too late Perry the Platypus!"

However all of Perry's being had stopped. The agent looked up, his watery eyes skimming the dark shadow that the Notreeinator cast. He wasn't so sure about it, but that scent. . .

A flash and a wave of heat hit the platypus full on, forcing him back against the wall. The platypus let out a yelp as the inator crashed down on to the ground in flame. "Perry the Platypus!" Doof called, his voice fringed with worry. He wasn't acting this time. Perry growled at the flames blocking his way out.

_Why does this always happen to me? _He thought as he ran along the edge of the wall, out of the flames and in to the safety of his nemesis. Doof released his breath, reaching down to ruffle Perry's head. For badness's sake Perry the Platypus don't _scare _me like that. I thought you were a goner for sure."

_Are you kidding me? You can't get rid of me that easily you doof._

The evil scientist knelt down, smirking in amusement as his hand started to scratch behind Perry's head where ears would be. The platypus let out a sort of pleased platypus purr, almost like a gurgle. Doof's smirk grew to a smile as the agent surrendered himself to Doof's hands, who was getting that one itch right where he couldn't reach it. The platypus let out a satisfied growl, closing his eyes and flopping his beaver tail on the ground like a cat.

"Hmm maybe I should make a Scratchinator. You'd never leave and I could do whatever I want."

Knowing he wasn't really serious, Perry only offered another happy platypus growl back to him. Smirking, Doof ruffled the fur atop his head again, standing up to look down at Perry. _When did I go so soft? _He thought.

Perry's watch beeped. The platypus stood to his feet in one smooth movement, gesturing for Doof that this would only be a moment. He touched a button at the corner of the device, watching the small screen. For a second there was only static before the face of Francis Monogram appeared. He looked a bit ruffled. "Agent P! You need to hurry back to your home! Something happened! Something bad."

The platypus didn't need any more information. With a brief chatter, he turned off his watch, speeding away to the balcony. Doof followed him. "Ah, are you okay Perry the Platypus?"

He only gave a weak salute, jumping from the balcony and releasing his hang glider to fly with the wind back home.

It only took him a few minutes to get there. When he did he dropped down on to the ground. Police were outside surrounding the house. He searched the area, not finding his family anywhere. He spotted a lonesome Buford and Baljeet holding on to a crying Isabella. Perry's heart clenched, fearing for the worst. He jumped over to a policeman he recognized, making sure that he was out of sight from the humans he knew. The man who was part of the OWCA looked down. "Ah, Perry the Platypus. There you are. The person in crime left you this note." He held the folded piece of paper. Perry reached for it. "Your family is inside," he told him quietly.

Perry unfolded the paper.

_You took away all I cared about, so I'm going to do the same. If anyone goes inside the house, they die, if anyone leaves the house, they die. If anyone tries to find me, you all die. I've implanted a bomb in the house. It'll explode at 1:30. If you can find me Perry the Platypus, I'll make my negotiations with you. Don't wait to long._

There was no signature.

A chill ran up Perry's spine. He looked up to the man who worked for the OWCA, fear dancing in his eyes. The man looked at him sadly. "W-We don't know what to do."

Perry's breath caught. He looked fearfully over to the house, almost like a ticking time bomb. He looked at his watch. It was 1 right now. He didn't have much time.

_How am I supposed to find him? _

"Agent P, we're doing everything we can to find out who wrote this, but, we don't know."

_Can we communicate with them? _He looked up to the man, who understood. "They have their cell phones on."

Perry's mind went through a series of thoughts. At last he turned on his watch, communicating with Chester. The cat's face appeared on the screen. _"Chester," _the platypus growled. "_Do you know how to get in to my house?" _

"_Of course I do. After you became an agent I learned all of your entrances and exits in case I would ever need to find you in an emergency. I think this counts."_

"_So can you find a way in?"_

"_Of course."_

"_Okay. Go in and lead them out."_

"_I can't go in. It would compromise the agency. I can send someone else in, but, there's no human small enough to do it, unless it was a child."_

Perry tried not to shake in fear. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. No. No no no no no. How could this be happening? How could someone know about where he lived?

It was someone from the agency.

This realization hit Perry like a wave. The platypus staggered backward, placing a hand over his heart. That was it. It had to be someone from the agency. Only someone from the OWCA would be able to access the information as to who he really was and where he lived.

"_Chester the person who did this had to have been someone in the agency, or they at least had someone on the inside."_

"_Who do you think it could be?"_

"_I don't know. But we need to think of a plan. Is there a kid we can send in there? Someone who knows the area?"_

"_Like who?"_

The platypus lifted his eyes, looking at the trio of children a little ways off. "I've got it."

Perry put on the funny glasses with the nose and mustache, adjusting it comfortably. It was a good thing that the people of Danville were dense when it came to identities.

"_Are you sure this will work?" _Chester asked over his watch. _"They seem to be a little more percetive compared to the normal citizens of the city. They might recognize you since you're with them more often."_

"_Linda looked at me one time with this exact disguise on and she didn't recognize me. I'll be okay."_

"_Be careful though. The sight of you with your hat, even with the disguise, might trigger their memory and they could recall the second dimension. Don't allow that to happen Agent P."_

"_I won't."_

"_Then good luck buddy."_

The watch blipped off. Perry walked up to Isabella, Buford and Baljeet. They looked over to him as he pulled out a tissue, offering it to Isabella. She took it gratefully, smirking when the platypus tipped his hat to her. "Hello children," he said to them in English. _This is weird this is weird this is weird this is weird, _was all the platypus could think as he spoke to them for the first time. He was surprised to hear that his voice had grown rougher and deeper over the years. He sounded more like an adult now.

"Hello. Who are you?" Baljeet asked.

"My name is Agent P. I'm here to help you guys get the Flynn-Fletcher family out of their home safely before time is up. But I need one of you to help me. I'll need someone small."

"Well, I'm out," Buford said instantly. 

"Someone smart who can figure things out. I need someone brave."

"I'm not very brave," Baljeet said honestly.

Perry looked over to Isabella. "Can you help me Ms. Isabella?"

"Of course," she said, sniffing a little.

"Good. Now listen. Over there by the tree is an entrance leading down to an underground room. From there you take an elevator up, which will lead you to the back of a mirror. If you push it open, you'll find yourself in the living room of the house."

Isabella Garcio pressed a spot on the tree. She had been changed quickly in to more secret agent-y clothes, a black t shirt and dark pants. Just as the agent had directed, a door in the tree opened up. Her heart pounding, she stepped in to it. As she did, it took her down in to the room she had been told was there.

_Ignore everything there. Just go straight up to the elevator. We have very little time._

So pushing her curiousity aside, Isabella hurried past the gadgets and to the elevator, which she squeezed herself in to. From there she waited until it stopped moving, reaching a hand forward, finding that the mirror swung open easily.

Sliding out, Isabella tiptoed to the kitchen, where the Flynn-Fletcher family were quietly playing a game of cards together. They kept looking at each other nervously, then at the clock. Relieved they were all okay, Isabella ran up to them. "Mr and Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher!"

Everyone looked at her. Isabella tried to calm her fluttering heart as Phineas looked over at her, shining relief in his eyes. "Isabella!" he said gleefully.

"Come on guys! I know a way out!"

Perry sighed in relief as he saw the tree entrance open. The family was hurried away with a SWAT team to the bomb scanning area. The platypus let out a sigh of relief. They were safe now. Everything was okay.

"_It worked Chester," _he said in to his watch communicator. "_They're all safe."_

"_Good. I'm glad they're okay."_

"_Me too."_

"_Still, who do you think would want to do something like this?"_

Perry hesitated. "_I don't know."_

Signing off, the platypus turned off the watch-wrist-communicator, taking off his disguise and running to his family, purring happily.

But even as he basked in his family's embrace, he felt that stirring feeling in his chest. Who would want to hurt his family?

**Off to the play right now. I'm so excited! :D **

**sorry this chappie was so short. x3**


	23. Chapter 22: Slip 'n Slide

Chapter 22: Slip 'n Slide

Perry rolled over in his bed, yawning. He reached up a paw to scratch at where his collar rested, in that one place that always itched.

The platypus yawned again, settling more comfortably in the bed. He recognized Phineas's touch as they boy's hands rubbed his neck. Arching his back in pleasure, Perry chattered his appreciation to his boy. The platypus opened his eyes to look upon his owner.

The triangle head smiled from where he knelt. Ferb was beside him, looking at Perry in silence. The platypus looked between the pair of them, studying the pair. They'd grown taller over the seven years he'd been with them. Where did the time go?

The platypus rolled over so Ferb could scratch his stomach. The monotreme purred flapping his tail on the bed happily.

"You're in a good mood today aren't you Perry?" Phineas asked in amusement.

The platypus smiled up at them, reaching up a paw to bat at Phineas's face. (**my cat does that to me sometimes)**. The fourteen year old smirked, then stood with Ferb to go elsewhere. "Anyway, I was thinking that today we could make some improvements on that tree house. A swimming pool would be nice don't you think?"

Perry pulled his hat on once they were out of sight, jumping to another one of his entrances to his mission room. The platypus landed in his seat, pressing a button to turn on the screen in front of him. Monogram showed up, looking the same as ever. "Welcome Agent P. Recent information has been brought to us informing that Doofenshmirtz is up to another one of his schemes. We don't really know what it is, so go get 'em Agent P."

The platypus saluted his superior, jumping up and running to his hovercraft, lifting in to the air to head off to Doofenshmirtz's.

When Perry landed on the balcony, he ran in, only to slip along the floor, landing in the a cage. He stood up, looking around. He had stepped on a slip n' slide. Haha.

"Oh Perry the Platypus how kind of you to slide in. Get it get it? _Slide _in? Yeah don't laugh too hard now, because you won't be laughing for long. In fact, _no one _will be laughing for long! You see, I built this No-Laugh-inator! Have you ever gotten annoyed by the sound of laughter? Well _all _laughter annoys me! I can't stand it! Except my own of course. So I'm going to hit the entire Tri-State Area with this baby, making it so everyone only laughs like me!"

Perry rolled his eyes, pulling out a file to start working on the bars of his cage. Doof watched him with narrowed eyes. "You must be running out of ideas to escape Perry the Platypus. Usually this is the part where you knock me down to the ground and foil my evil plan."

The agent looked up to his nemesis, shrugged, and continued filing the bars. He continued filing them for a few more moments, but Doof's patience gave out. "Oh phooey!" The evil scientist gave the cage an annoyed kick so the door squeaked open easily.

Perry jumped out of the cage, facing Doof in his agent pose. The evil scientist rolled his eyes. "Okay whatever let's just get this over with."

The agent smirked, preparing to launch himself at his nemesis, suddenly interrupted when a net appeared out of no where, pinning Doofenshmirtz to the wall. Perry stared at him. Doof struggled to get out. "What the? Where did this come from?"

"_Good. Now he's out of the way."_

Perry turned around, scanning the room with his sharp eyes. He glared in to the darkness, breathing in silently to taste the air. A chill went down his spine, spiking up his fur. From out of the shadows, a panda came out on all fours. A full grown panda. On it's hat was a huge hat, much bigger than last time.

"P-Peter the Panda?" Doof asked, stammering. Fear was etched in his voice. "Perry the Platypus this time I _swear _that I had no idea he was here!"

"_What are you doing here Peter?" _Perry growled. He could read the panda's movements, and the bear was obviously being aggressive. It snarled at him.

"I'm here for revenge!" the panda declared, speaking in English.

Perry tensed up. "_What are you doing Peter?"_

"Peter the Panda you can _talk ?"_

The panda looked up at Doof, as if just noticing he was there. "Of course we can!" he snarled. "We can understand _you _guys speak why wouldn't we be able to speak as well?"

"But, you're an animal."

"At least you think we are," the panda said slyly.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"_Peter don't compromise the OWCA!" _Perry snapped. "Your fight is with me, not him!"

"There's no reason for me to compromise the OWCA. I can't. They rejected me as an agent. They saw me try to 'steal' Doofenshmirtz from another agent, a _senior _agent at that who was the best in the country, and they didn't let me complete my training. Not only that but they wouldn't let me change back!" The panda let out a furious roar. "They wanted to send me to a zoo in China! In _China!"_

"_Then why are you wearing a hat?" _The platypus only spoke in Animalspeak.

"Made it myself. That way none of the other agents would think that I was just another animal. Pretty smart huh?"

Perry rolled his eyes. "_You're still only a kid Peter. How old are you now? Fifteen? Even if you wanted to you can't defeat me. I've fought with animals that are much bigger than me before."_

"Yes but I have an advantage."

"_And what is that?" _

In Animalspeak, Peter pointed over to Doofenshmirtz, who was still being held against the wall. "_Him."_

Perry froze. Still not knowing what was going on, Doof struggled against the net pinning him against the wall. "Wait so does this mean Perry the Platypus can talk too?"

**the. Play. Was. AWESOME! 8D thanks for those of you who asked me about my trip, and prayed for the safe roads. As I type this we're almost back home. A couple more hours I think :3 **

**Peter the Panda has returned with a vengeance! what will happenz next? **

**Hatsu in rl: Lion if you don't upload the next chapter I will kill you!**

**Me: please dont. X3**


	24. Chapter 23: Monologue

Chapter 23: Monologue

**23 already? Holy smokez! **

Perry growled at Peter, his fur bristling furiously. The platypus had crouched down a little, his muscles bunched up. Peter snapped at him, while Doof watched nearby totally confused. "So Perry the Platypus _can _you talk?"

"Of course he can!" Peter answered immediately.

"_Shut up Peter! You can't reveal information like this!"_

"I can say whatever I want platypus!"

"_Watch it Peter. I've fought you before, and I can easily fight you again."_

"Oh. It's a fight you want is it? Fine."

Without even giving the agent time to prepare himself, the panda charged at the platypus, ro**a**ring as he went. (**yeah pandas probably dont roar or do anything like this but w/e**) Perry jumped up, trying to sail over the panda in a single leap, but the panda saw what was coming, hooking Perry's body with one swipe of a large black paw, slamming the platypus down on to the ground. A yelp came out of the platypus, crushing his watch to a million pieces.

_Oh great. There goes backup._

Doof watched with wide eyes, flinching when he heard Perry yelp. He'd never heard Perry make that sound before, not even when Doof hit him with his hardest hits.

_Please let him be okay, _Doof found himself praying for the platypus's safety.

In an instant that Perry fell on to the ground, he got up in an instant, ignoring the throbbing pain that now pounded through his lower back. He grunted as he jumped away from the panda, who swung at him again. Using all four paws now, he ran faster, trying to find a way past Peter to Doofenshmirtz, but the panda had him covered.

_Crap crap crap crap I'm screwed, _he thought as he tried to run past Peter's defense system.

"_Why would you want to be a panda anyway?" _Perry taunted. _"No nemesis is going to want to fight a squishy little teddy bear. You're not exactly as intimidating as a platypus. At least I look cool."_

Peter gave a low chuckle, "Still speaking in the Agent language Perry? Why don't you talk in your first language, so you can tell Doofenshmirtz who you really are?"

"_Now why would I talk to _him _when I can talk to a stupid fat bear like you?"_

"What do you mean tell me who he really is? His first language? Perry the Platypus what is he talking about?"

Peter snarled at Perry, charging at him again. Perry stood his ground so at the last second he could run past the Panda to the slip 'n slide. Peter ran over to the bottom of it, glaring at the platypus. "Nice try Perry. But you'll never get to Doofenshmirtz, and when you get tired enough, I can kill you."

"_You think so Peter? Okay then. Come and get me."_

"You think I'd fall for that?" the panda growled. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"_Stupid is as stupid does Peter the Panda."_

Growling, the panda started to walk up the slip 'n slide, not realizing that with each step, he was digging a deeper hole for himself. "You're dead platypus!"

"_Whatever you say Peter."_

As the panda was about halfway up the slip 'n slide, Perry jumped forward, getting on his stomach penguin style to slide down right between Peter's legs. He slid to Doof, thankful for his training. "_Remember Kid, you're a platypus, which means you'll have an advantage over your enemies a lot of the time. If they're a land animal, and you're near water, use that against them. It won't matter if you get a little wet, you were made for the water." _

_Thank you Chester. _

The platypus pulled his hat off, using the chainsaw on it to cut the ropes, releasing Doofenshmirtz. "Now listen Doof, remember that place you took Kid when you last saw him? Do you remember the way?"

"Wh- Perry the Platypus you can talk!"

"Doof! Do you remember the place?"

"What? Yeah I remember where, but what does that have to-"

"Go there! When you get to the door you won't be able to open it. Take this and show it to the camera. Tell them that I need backup and where I am." Perry pulled off his collar for a second time, putting it in Doof's hands.

"But what about-"

"I'll hold off Peter to give you a head start, but we don't have much time. You need to go, now!"

"But-"

"Doof if you don't go now we'll lose time! Go!"

The evil scientist did as told, running to the door. Peter by now had slid clumsily down the slip 'n slide, only just starting to gain his balance. He saw Doof starting to get away. The panda was about to charge him, when Perry threw an egg on his eye. The panda's head snapped over at him, baring his teeth. Perry had bolted to the kitchen, and now held a carton of eleven eggs. He smiled. "What's one person to you Peter? It's me you want isn't it? How embarrassing would it be if you went home knowing you got beaten by a platypus?"

Peter turned to Perry, his head as low as his growl. Perry lifted up another egg, throwing it at the panda. Peter jumped to the side. "Throwing eggs is all that you've resulted to Perry the Platypus?"

"Well you don't leave me much choice," Perry answered, chucking another one at his leg. The stench of them was disgusting. Raw eggs, bleh!

"Oh, talking in English now are we?" Peter swatted an egg aside with soft paws so it broke on the ground, the yolk spilling out like the guts of a person. Perry cringed.

"Of course why wouldn't we have a nice little talk like the gentlemen we are? Or, one of us. At least I've hit puberty."

Peter roared at him, his jaws wide. This only received another egg right in to his mouth. _Bulls eye! _Perry thought successfully, laughing at the grossed out expression on Peter's face.

"So tell me, is Peter your real name?"

"It is actually. Why is Perry yours?"

"Of course it is, now at least."

Peter smirked evilly, still slowly advancing upon Perry and dodging eggs. "Still, you talked to your nemesis now, that's a big no-no isn't it? Won't you be fired for that now? Stripped of your title?"

"It was an emergency, they'll look over it. Besides, they cant afford to lose their number one agent. I'm too cool for that. Don't you even know what I've had to go through in the past two months? Traveling through dimensions is a dangerous thing."

"Don't I know it," Peter said, a smirk on his face.

"How would you know?"

"Well I _was _the one who helped Alter-Doof rise to power."

Perry froze. "What?"

"Until recently that dimension over there was just the same as ours. Just because it's the different dimension that doesn't mean it has to be any different. So I found a way over there and helped him rise to power. I told him all about your secret identity and who you lived with, promising him that no one would ever look down on him again. It was easy."

"How could you have known that we would go over there?"

"Oh, I knew that the Doof over here was working on an Alternate-Dimension-inator. I just never would have thought all of your little friends would come along. You weren't supposed to come back though, at least _you_ weren't supposed to. I was going to be the one to comfort Doof, and then he'd take me as his new nemesis. But after all that trouble I went through _you still managed to survive. _So I went for your family here, but again you got through it. How can a platypus be so lucky?"

Perry wasn't paying that much attention to Peter's monologue. Of course it made sense that he set the bomb up in the house to kill his family, no surprise there. But. . . the whole second dimension, it was Peter's fault? And all the heartbreak afterwards, everything Perry had to go through, it was through Peter.

Anger coursed through the platypus's veins. He glared down at the panda, "If you have a problem with me Peter, then bring it, but you didn't have to take my family in to your issues!"

"Well there's only one way to hurt you Perry the Platypus, and that's to take away everyone you love before I kill you myself. However I've had to result to this as a last resort, so I'll only have to suffice with your death and the thought that after you fail to protect yourself, I'll go kill your family, and take Doof as my nemesis."

"You won't touch my family."

"We'll see then won't we?"

**monologue to the extreme. Hurry up doof! Reach the OWCA in time! D:**


	25. Chapter 24: Help

Chapter 24: Help

Doofenshmirtz drove past all the lights and stop signs, only managing to not get in a car wreck by a miracle. His heart pound in his chest. He gasped for breath, thinking of Perry's body lying crumpled on the ground, surrounded by pools of crimson blood. He had to hurry. If he didn't make it in time, Perry could be dead by the time he even found help.

_Perry can talk. Oh my gosh Perry can talk. And how did he know about Kid? He must have read a file on me or something at his agency. They'd have something like that. _

Doof's brain put two and two together as he got to the big white building. He ran out. _But why would Kid want to come here if it's a place for agents? Maybe he had some friends here. Did Kid ever know Perry? Maybe I should ask Perry sometime. _He swallowed, _supposing I get to see him again._

Heinz ran to the door, pulling on both of them. Just as Perry said, they didn't open. He banged on them. What else did he say? Show the collar to the camera. What camera? He spotted one above his hand, showing the collar to it. "Hey! Hey whoever can see this! I need help! You have to help me! Perry's in trouble! Peter the Panda came back, and he wants to kill Perry! Help me please! Perry told me to come here, and to show you this so you'd know he was telling the truth! Please help me he's in big trouble you have to help me! He'll die if we don't hurry!"

Doof expected for someone to come out straight away. Instead he was met only with silence. "Hey! HEY! Please you have to help me! Perry's fighting Peter right now! You have to come and help me! Please!"

~***in the OWCA***~

"Uh, sir?"

"What is it now Karl?"

"We have a security breach in the main entrance."

"Oh it's probably just some cat or dog or something."

"Um, actually no it isn't sir. It's a human."

"A human?" Monogram walked over to Karl. "Where?"

"Right there. It's Doofenshmirtz."

"What? How'd he know to come here?"

The intern looked at the screen, unsure of what to do. "I don't know sir. Maybe we should get rid of that sign."

"No! I like that sign and you know it! We're not taking it down. Turn up the volume." The little image of Doof kept pounding on the door screaming something. Karl reached a hand over to turn up the volume.

"Perry's in trouble! Peter the Panda came back, and he wants to kill Perry! Help me please! Perry told me to come here, and to show you this so you'd know he was telling the truth! Please help me he's in big trouble you have to help me! He'll die if we don't hurry!"

Monogram exchanged a glance with Karl. On the screen Doof continued to scream at them, demanding that they help him. He kept shoving the collar up to the camera.

"Karl what is that?"

"It's Agent P's collar. He gave it to the boys to help him with the second dimension robots remember?"

"He must really be in trouble then. Karl, send all of the agents in stat. If what Doofenshmirtz says is true, then we don't have that much time. Peter will have grown over the past couple of years."

"Right away sir."

Doof kept beating his fists against the glass. Why wasn't anyone helping?

Suddenly one of the doors opened. The evil scientist looked over to the ground as a secret agent cat stepped out. His fur was a dark ginger, his eyes a gleaming gold. He stared at Doofenshmirtz, tipped his hat, and began to speak. "You said that Perry told you to come here?"

Not as shocked as last time, the evil scientist nodded, "Yes he did."

"Then he must be in trouble. May I see that?" the cat held out it's paw for the collar.

Uncertain, Doof handed it over to him. The cat took it, studying it. It flicked open the locket to see something, then closed it before handing it back to Doof. "We better be off then. How did you get here?"

"I brought my car."

"That isn't nearly fast enough. We'll take my cat hovercraft."

"What?"

"Just follow me."

~**DEI**~

The platypus fought against Peter. Having run out of eggs he had resorted to sharp pieces of almond brittle. He prayed a silent apology for using all of the evil scientist's foods to defend himself, hoping that Doof would forgive him if he got back.

_When _he got back, Perry corrected himself, throwing another square of the hard candy. _When _the evil scientist got back. He couldn't allow himself to think otherwise.

Agent P backed up more in to the kitchen. No matter what he tried Peter only got closer. It was a miracle he'd been able to hold him off for this long.

"Just give up Perry," the panda snarled. "You know I'll win anyway."

"Then why don't you come and get me if it's so easy to defeat me?" the platypus returned.

"The only reason you're not dead yet is because you're humoring me with your little attempts to save yourself."

Perry rolled his eyes. "Oh please, every villain uses that. Try thinking of something creative for once."

Peter growled. "No matter, I will still defeat you."

"Tell yourself a lie long enough and you'll see it as the truth."

"Is that so?" Peter snarled. "Then put down the food and fight me!"

"Very well." Peter flung the almond brittle to the side. He reached under the sink to pull out a long pipe, releasing a burst of water. _Sorry Doof, your place is gonna flood. "_Come and fight me then you stupid panda."

Peter growled, lowering his head. The panda charged towards Perry, who bat him with the pipe. Peter bat at it, snarling at him ferociously. Perry fought him off, but with a swipe of his huge paw, Peter swat the pipe away. Panicking, Perry slid under Peter to go after the pipe, but while his back was turned from the panda, Peter jumped on to Perry. The platypus was squished underneath the panda's huge weight.

"Nice try Perry, but you can't escape me." Perry groaned as thick claws dug in to his back. He tried to squeeze from the panda's huge paw, however the panda kept him down on the ground. "Just give up."

Perry yelped as he felt teeth close in over his back. The platypus lifted in to the air, wincing from the feeling of the huge fangs digging in to his back. Peter shook him violently, tossing him across the room to smack in to the wall. Perry groaned. He stood up shakily to face Peter, but the panda's mind knew what Perry would do. In a single leap the panda jumped on to Perry, again pinning him down to the ground, his huge paw over the platypus's chest.

The platypus looked up weakly at the panda, his vision beginning to blur. His muscles felt as heavy as lead, with his eyelids feeling even heavier.

"Well it's been fun Perry the Platypus, but I'm getting tired of this game." Peter raised the paw from Perry's chest, lifting it up in to the air, ready to strike. Perry didn't even try to leave. He was too tired, so weak. He couldn't move. This was it, he would die here, alone, not even with the boys to comfort him.

The agent lifted his head weakly, staring in to his opposer's dark and gleaming eyes. From somewhere else in the room the platypus heard a shout. "No! Peter the Panda stop!"

Perry closed his eyes, barely clinging on to life.

~**to Doof**~

Doof's breath caught in his throat as he gazed upon the bloody mess that was Perry the Platypus. He stared in near horror. Next to him, Chester the Cat was frozen on the spot. Letting out a terrible screech he sprinted at the panda, fully armed. Not even hesitating he jumped at Peter, slashing him with his fiery sharp claws. Peter released a roar of fury, turning full on to the cat.

"Go! I'll distract him! Go help Perry!" the cat called to Doof.

Not hesitating to do as he was told, Doof ran past the battling duo to the platypus. He got down on his knees, taking off his coat to press it to the platypus's blood drenched fur. The platypus opened his dark eyes weakly, staring up at Doof. "Am I dead?" he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"Not yet little buddy. Come on you'll be fine, everything will be okay, you've just got to hold on for me okay?"

The platypus didn't seem to be listening to him. "I never thought I'd be killed by a panda seeking revenge."

"You're not going to die!" Doof replied stubbornly, glaring down at his nemesis. "You'll be fine."

"I thought I'd die at an easy old age, but not like this."

Deciding to humor him while Doof tried to figure out a way to stop the bleeding, he goaded him on, to try and take his mind off dying. "Then how did you think you'd die?"

"I thought I would die at your hand, or at least be with my family when I passed on."

Doof looked outside at the noon day sun. Everything went on as normal to people who didn't have anything to do with this. It felt strange to know that no one else held a care in the world out there, not realizing one of the best protectors of this city lay dying in the arms of his greatest foe.

The evil scientist looked down at Perry. "I-I don't know what to do."

"It's too late for me," Perry whispered, his eyes drooping closed.

"But-" Doof began to protest, cutting off when he laid eyes upon his nemesis.

Who was _glowing. _

"P-Perry the Platypus, you-you're-"

He didn't finish. As if in slow motion, Doof watched as the hand he kept hold on started to grow, the fur shrinking away in to the depths of the skin. The evil scientist looked up at the platypus's face, which was starting to merge and form in to something different.

Something, human.

Where fur coated the skin before now laid smooth and soft clothes. The skin of the man in front of him was a paper-white pale. Doof stared at the smooth teal-blue hair falling to below the man's shoulders where a mark where a collar would be lay imprinted on the fleshy skin. The evil scientist swallowed in a sort of fear. From where Peter and Chester were fighting, he heard the cat gasp, "No way!"

Doof didn't tend to be the brightest evil scientist on the block; believe me he knew it, but there were always those times where Doof became smarter than he usually was, as if his brain needed to make up for the lack of brain energy that Doof used (or didn't use) on a daily basis. This was one of those moments. Heinz's mind sped at the speed of light a million things that started to come in to his brain.

He met Kid nine years ago when the boy was thirteen. Now he would be about twenty two, which seemed to be how old the unconscious man before him was. Wait, no Kid's birthday happened last month, so if he remained to be a live he would be twenty three, which still looked about to be the man's age.

Kid asked for Doof to drive him to the exact same place where the agents worked, coincidence? Not only that but Perry knew about that time.

It seemed way to unreal, like no way this wasn't possible. Doof was just imagining things, right? His mind loved to play tricks on him all the time, there could be no way that what he thought right now was real. No way no way no way no way.

But, it was.

The word lingered on the tip of Doof's tongue. Trying to breathe, he murmured out the word, the name that broke his heart in to a million pieces after thinking the boy he could adopt was dead.

"Kid."

Upon hearing the name, the man opened one eye. He took in a shuddered breath, releasing a sentence with the one breath he took. "Guess the cat's out of the bag."

The man known as Kid ceased to breathe.

**Longest chapter of meh life o.o**


	26. Chapter 25: Land of Dreams

Chapter 25: Land of Dreams

Perry knew he was awake. He felt he was at that state of mind where you know you're awake, but you're just not ready to open your eyes to the world.

However, Perry knew that he probably wasn't home. He opened his eyes, finding a pure blue sky far above him, dotted with faint white clouds. The man blinked, sitting up. He looked around, finding that he returned to where he had come all those years ago when he first turned in to a platypus.

"I'm back," he voiced aloud.

"Oh there you are Perry."

The man moved his head over to the side, looking at the fourteen year old facing him. The redhead boy smiled at him. Beside him his step-brother watched. Ferb blinked a few times, tilting his head to the side. He held up his hand in a wave. Perry stared at them. "Phineas? Ferb? What's going on? You're not, dead are you?"

Phineas looked concerned. "Dead? No. Why would we be dead?"

Perry looked around, "Well, do you guys know where we are?"

"Yeah." Phineas smiled. "This is the Land of Dreams."

"The Land of Dreams?"

"Yeah. You know when you fall asleep and when you wake up, you have that really sleepy, almost dead feeling?"

Perry blinked. "Yeah?"

"Well it's not because you're tired, it's because while you sleep your soul slips out. It takes a little while for your body to adjust to your soul being back in your body. When you sleep your body continues to live, but your soul is free to wander. It comes here, which is where you have dreams. If it wanders the earth that leaves it vulnerable to demons, who are the ones that give you nightmares. That's why there are Soul Watchers to make sure souls don't go have too many bad dreams, or it can give the body stress and kill them without even realizing it."

Perry shook his head to clear it. He blinked over at Phineas as the teen said, "But this is also the place where souls go when their bodies can no longer hold them. This is the place between the mortal world, and the next."

"The next? You mean, where they go after their bodies die? Like, Heaven?"

Phineas stood on his tiptoes, peering out beyond Perry. "Well, I don't know. I've never been, obviously. Once you go over you can't really come back. Actually I think you can, but you just don't want to come back. Maybe there's a place where you can watch the earth to know what's going on."

Perry looked over to the direction Phineas stared at. All he saw was an endless open field of white, the horizon was all but a huge expanse of the grass with flowers dotted here and there.

The human looked back to the boys. Phineas looked back at Perry, smiling at him. Ferb's smile looked the same as his step-brother's.

"How do you know who I am?" Perry asked. He stood to his bare feet, savoring the feeling if his smooth toes twining in the cool green grass.

"Oh, we're much more perceptive here than we are when we're awake. We're only souls here, and our bodies aren't very good at accessing the souls' memories that well. Likely, we won't remember a single thing when we wake up." Phineas looked at him with a piqued interest, "But you've been here before haven't you?"

Perry watched them, "Yes, I have, once."

"When you became an agent right?"

Perry looked up.

"Yeah we know about that too," Phineas smiled at him. "Like I said, souls remember a lot better than the human mind does. We remember that you were the boy we saw like, nine years ago right?"

Perry nodded.

"We also had someone help to inform us. She said to give you the whole run down of this place."

"Who was it?" Perry blinked.

"Dunno. She might show up later. Come on let's go for a walk."

Perry walked with Phineas and Ferb. They seemed a lot shorter compared to him now. They came up to his shoulder. Ferb came up a little more higher, but not by much.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Kid asked.

"We're having an afternoon nap." Phineas looked at him strangely. "Why what are you doing?"

Perry didn't answer, only looked ahead, walking with his hands in his pockets. He pricked his ears, catching the sound of laughter. "What's that?"

"Other Dream Walkers," Phineas said, "people who are asleep and know where they are. If you come here but you don't know where you are, then you have dreams, which is where dreams come from. But if you know where you are, like we are right now, we're having a lucid dream, which means we can control what's going on."

Perry blinked, "Well that's cool."

"Yeah. There are some souls around here too who aren't ready to go on yet. They can go back to Earth, but they won't be really dead and they're not really alive."

"So they're like ghosts?"

"In a way," Ferb answered.

The human let out a sigh. They trio walked in silence. Phineas led them to a gorge, where a full river flowed past. Nearby Perry spotted a gentle sloped wooden bridge. The carvings were crafted beautifully, looking like it would never break or wear out in all eternity.

"You've seen the river on the other side of the valley right?" Phineas asked.

"Yeah."

"Well the water in the rivers here mean something. They're measurements to the amount of goodness and peace in the world. This bridge leads to the other world, so you can see how much better it is over there. But the bridge to the mortal world. . ."

Perry easily recalled at how dusty and how small the river was at the other bridge. It wasn't even a river, it was smaller than a stream.

"It used to be so full," Perry murmured, recalling the markings where the river on that side had flowed freely, proud and strong.

"It's getting smaller every day. One day there might not even be a river under that bridge," Phineas said quietly. He looked up to his pet, "You're not coming back are you?"

Perry's eyes were trained on the horizon across the river, where only a white haze could be seen. He glanced down at Phineas. "I don't know," he murmured. "How would I know?"

Phineas watched Perry. "I don't know. But I have a feeling whenever I come here, that I have to return to the mortal world. My time there isn't done yet. Do you have that feeling Perry?"

The man sighed, looking back, as if trying to look to where the other bridge across the way flowed. The river in front of him roared and passed slowly through on it's trip to nowhere. "I don't know."

Phineas watched him. "What happened? Back over there?"

"An old enemy, came to kill me."

Phineas's blue eyes penetrated Perry. "Did he succeed?"

"I don't know. I passed out."

The ginger blinked, looking down. "It's your decision then. If you can return, if your body can still sustain your soul, you still have a chance of living." Phineas raised his head. "But if you're ready to pass on, you can go. Not many people get this decision."

Perry looked at his friend and owner. He knelt down to ruffle Phineas's head. The ginger looked up to him with tears in his crystal navy eyes. Ferb gave his friend a hug. In their hearts they knew that the parting time was near. When Perry hugged Phineas, the teen gave him the hardest hug he'd ever received.

"We're losing you again," Phineas murmured, "and we won't even know what happened when we wake up."

"I'm sorry, but, I don't know if I can go back." Perry pressed his face in to Phineas's neck, savoring the scent of the fourteen year old. Like grass and warm summer days. He'd never forget that scent for all of eternity. "Take care of Candace for me okay?"

"Okay," Phineas sniffed. He moved his head back, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. Ferb wiped his eyes with a hanker chief he had pulled out. Perry saluted him. "Take care of him Ferb."

The fifteen year old gave him a thumbs up, understanding. "Bye Perry," he said quietly. "We'll miss you."

"Bye Perry, you're the best pet we ever could have had!" Phineas told him sincerely.

"You're the best owners I've ever had."

The waved to each other good bye. At last, Perry walked to the bridge. The now-human stepped on to the wood, a rush of pleasant warmth flowing up through him. Again he took another step. He got to the top of it. Now there was a haze on both ends. He couldn't see in to either of them.

"_If this is the path you wish to walk, continue," _a familiar voice murmured to him. Perry recognized the voice that spoke to him from his first visit here.

"Who are you?" Perry called.

"_Someone who's loved you since they first laid eyes on you."_

The human looked over. From the end of the bridge he just came out of, a woman stepped forward, the most beautiful Perry ever saw in his life. Her dress flowed in white, purer than snow. Her hair fell to below her shoulders in cascades of ebony. Her eyes gleamed a shining amber.

"Ebony," he murmured.

The mother he knew nodded, a smile touching her graceful lips. "It's been far too long Kid."

Without thinking he ran to her, wrapping her up in his warm embrace. "Mom! Oh mom!"

Ebony returned his hug, holding him, her arms full of care and love. "I've missed you so much child."

"I've missed you too Mom. Have you passed on yet?"

"I'm waiting for you."

"Well I'm ready to go right now, come on."

"Kid," she held on to his arm. Perry looked up at her, curious.

"What is it Mom?"

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Mom, I've done what I came to do. I became an agent, fought off evil to protect the world. I've led a good life, and I'm ready to go."

"But you're so young."

"I've grown wise in these past years. I don't have any regrets in my life. I'm ready to leave."

Ebony held him in her embrace again. "Oh Kid," she murmured, "can't you hear it?"

He pulled away from her. "Hear what?"

She closed her eyes, as if trying to contain her silent frustration. She opened her eyes again, "Listen," she whispered.

Her fingertips brushed down along his eyelids, easing them closed. Perry did as told, tuning in his ears. "Listen," Ebony's voice echoed.

For a few moments, silence. Then a very faint, faded out voice called out, "_Perry! Perry!"_

Perry furrowed his eyebrows, taking a step nearer to the Land of Dreams. He tuned his ears more carefully. The voice came in stronger with each small step he took. "_Oh come on! Kid! Kid! Oh please wake up! Kid! Please!"_

The human opened his eyes. "Doof," he whispered. His head snapped to Ebony. "What's happening over there?"

Without speaking the woman threw down a rain of sparkles. When they landed on the ground a pool appeared, showing what happened on earth. Perry saw himself in his human form, covered in blood. Doof lay crouched over him, his voice inaudible.

"There's someone who isn't ready for you to leave," Ebony murmured. Perry only stood shell-shocked at the image in front of him. Doof shook Perry's body, tears streaking down his face like bullets.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

Perry ran.

**See? The river DID have significance! :D **

**WHEW this chapter is LONG! I hope you guys are ok with that. If not, too bad I worked hard on this chapter! :D **

**awww, ebony came back! and she is h-o-t HOT! (for guys anyway. She sounds pretty tho) :3 **


	27. Chapter 26: Squabbling

Chapter 26: Squabbling

Doof crouched over Kid's body, tears of regret and heartbreak falling down his face. Kid. Oh Kid. How could this have happened? How could he have not seen the signs? I-It was so obvious now! Kid was Perry and Perry was Kid this entire time! He felt so blind, so stupid! He felt like such a doof!

"Ha! The platypus is dead!" Peter roared in triumph, receiving another slash from Chester.

"Shut up domino. Other agents will be here to restrain you," the cat snarled.

Doof put his head in his hands, silent sobs shaking his body. No. How could this have happened? Why did it have to turn out this way? He lifted his eyes, reaching out a hand to Kid's soft hair, that now was brittle from the dried blood. Doof winced, trying to keep the tears back this time. His arms trembled, a million thoughts flying through his head at once, all of them negative.

"I'm such an idiot," he whispered.

"Ah who cares if the stupid platypus is dead? Nobody liked him anyway."

"Shut up."

"What?"

"I said _shut up _you _pathetic _excuse for a nemesis!" the doctor finally snapped. Straightening himself he stood, facing the panda. Rage contorted across his features. "Who do you think you are bursting in here saying that you can be my nemesis? _I _choose who my nemesis's are! Not you! And even if I could choose you I would never have a _stupid, pathetic, annoying, irritating, useless _nemesis like you!"

Peter seemed frozen, as if he couldn't believe this. "But Doof," he whispered, "I did all of this for you. I went through all of this just so I could be your nemesis again. Don't you want that Doof? Don't you want me as your nemesis?"

Doof hardened his gaze. "Never," he hissed the word.

"_How_?" Peter roared. He shoved Chester aside, stomping over to Doof. "After all of this how can you want Perry the Platypus as your nemesis instead of me? After all I've done for you, you STILL want him!"

Doofenshmirtz glared in to Peter's eyes, not removing his gaze. Rage and hurt flashed in his blue orbs. Murder tingled through his arms. He wanted nothing more than to hurt Peter the Panda, wanted nothing more than to make him suffer those nine years that he had been suffering.

"I, hate you," he whispered.

"That's good then isn't it?" Peter asked.

In a snap Doof reached his arm back to bring it forward right on the panda's face over his eye. Peter roared in pain, looking up to Doof. He stood up on his hind paws, growling, showing his pearly white teeth.

Doof looked in fear up at the panda now. Peter was a lot scarier when he was like this. Doof started to back up, knowing that an angry panda probably wouldn't be a good thing for his health.

"Well if I can't have you then no one can have you!" Peter roared.

The paw started to come down.

A force tackled Doof down to the floor just in time. Doof opened his eyes to see the teal haired man rolling off of him. Peter glared down at him as Perry sat up. "Can't you just die already?"

Perry wiped at the corner of his mouth. "Dying isn't in my agenda."

"It will be soon!"

"Kid!" Doof gasped.

"Come on!" The full grown man grabbed Doof's hand, pulling him to the kitchen. The evil scientist took note of the scratches that were all over his body, including the huge slash in his back he had just taken. They took refuge behind the counters where Chester set up a little fort.

"I found paint ball guns," he told them. He was standing on a stool firing at the panda. "If he doesn't want any paint to color that black and white fur of his he'll stay back."

"Here Kid, I've got some remedies in here." Doof opened a cupboard. He pulled out some bandages and band-aids with some ointment. "Take off your shirt I'll put some of this on."

"We don't really have time for this Doof," Perry hissed while turning to Chester and asking, "Do you have another paint ball gun?"

"Honestly Kid do you want an infection on all of your injuries or not?"

"My wounds getting infected aren't really the top priority on my mind right now Doof." Perry took the spare paint ball gun from Chester. He loaded it up.

"Come on Kid it's the least I can do right now! I mean it's not like I have good aim with guns so I can help this way at least."

Perry glared at him. "Fine," he growled. He pulled his old T-shirt off. Doof started to work quickly. "Why didn't you tell me about who you were?" he asked, roughly applying the ointment to the most recent wound on the former-platypus's back.

"It was against protocol I wasn't allowed to tell you," Perry got in to position.

"Ugh I even told you about you dying! How could you not have told me?"

"Do you have any idea how awkward that would have been?"

"Well you could have at least told me you knew you weren't dead!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Perry retorted, taking a shot at the panda and hitting him right between the eyes, splattering the white fur with pink paint.

Doof started wrapping the bandage around him. "Come on you could have told me! I'd have kept it a secret!"

"Doof!" Perry turned around so he was resting his back against the counters. "That would have been lying to the agency and they would have found out eventually. If they would have found out that you learned about my secret identity as a human then they would have made me transfer to another scientist."

The evil scientist looked confused, "But, the scientist chooses the agent."

"But they have the power to transfer me if they want, and you don't get any say over it."

Heinz blinked. Somewhere in the room Peter roared with fury. "So, by you not telling me . . ."

"By me not telling you who I was I protected you! I _wanted _to work with you Doof, even if that meant lying to you for the rest of my life!"

Touched, Doof blinked, "Oh."

Doof slapped a band-aid to the human's shoulder. "Still!" he insisted stubbornly.

"Will you two lovebirds stop fighting for ten seconds and help me get rid of this stupid panda?" Chester snarled, firing at their foe.

"Yeah yeah I'm on it," Perry said, turning his gun back to the panda. "Where's that backup? What's taking them so long?"

"I don't know. It's been less than 10 minutes since we got here. Maybe the traffic is bad."

"Yeah right," Doof muttered.

"I heard that!"

After a few more seconds of firing Dof went to go sit next to where the twenty three year old fired off the paint balls. "So, did you start out as a human?"

"Yeah I did. I became a platypus on the way."

"Have you always been able to turn it on and off?"

"No." Perry glanced down at him. "I was told when I joined the agency that I'd probably never be human again actually."

"A while ago actually," Chester joined in to the conversation, "Karl hypothesized that when an agent is under a great deal of stress and they're near death, that they'll turn back to their original human form. The other agents added to it saying that when the agent is completely at rest with their life, then that's why they turn back."

"Maybe it's both," Perry answered. "I was ready to leave when I got there."

The pair looked at him. "Got where?" Chester asked.

Perry paused. "Never mind. You guys will go there eventually."

"Did you die?" Doof asked.

"I almost did. I chose to come back, but I almost crossed over, you won't believe how close I was to actually going."

They didn't say anything after that, only listening and concentrating on the approaching enemy. "It's a good thing these things hurt when you fire them at pandas."

"And its really easy to spot him in this colorful state," Perry smirked.

"Kid how long are we going to be here?"

"Until backup comes. And don't call me Kid!"

"Why not?"

"It's not who I am anymore. I'm Perry now. Don't call me Kid."

"But you-"

"Just don't Doof. Now be quiet and don't get in the way."

Heinz scowled. "Well I'm glad you never talked to me until now because you're being _really _mean!"

Perry allowed his eyes to shift over to the evil scientist, who looked like a child pouting. "We just don't want you to get hurt too."

"Fine," he muttered, crossing his arms across his chest. "I guess I'm completely useless then."

"Pretty much."

"Cocky today aren't you?"

"Will you guys just stop?" Chester wailed in annoyance. "I'm trying to save our hides over here!"

**lol, squabbling.**

**As I type this (like 3 days before you're reading it) I am happily ahead of schedule :3 **

**if you have any questions about anything in the story that doesn't seem to be clear, ask in the review or PM me :3**

**READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS:**

**ok so remember when i went on that Sudent Leader retreat a couple weeks back? that was for student leaders (hence STUDENT LEADERS) and now the one coming up this weekend is for the winter retreat for all of the youth who wanna come :D so i'll be like a camper there but i'm also going to put some time in as a good role model and as a student leader and stuff for my middle school friends, cuz as high schoolers, its our job to be their role model and blah blah blah stuff like dat :3 so no chapters till sunday, which is when we come back. (superbowl sunday! . . . . . who's playing agian? jk. i've learned this week who is) XD Superbowl Sunday always sneaks up on me for some reason.**


	28. Chapter 27: Backup

Chapter 27: Backup

Needless to say, backup took a while to get there. Ten minutes passed before they finally decided to show up. Terry and Brown were the first to jump over. They got sight of Doof, who glared at them, and humanized Perry, who growled in Animalspeak, "_Say anything about this again and I'll kill you." _He had put his shirt back on by then. Terry smirked upon seeing his mentor in his human form.

"_You really do have blue hair. Why is that_?"

"_Oh_ must _we go over that _again?"

"Who'd you bring?" Perry asked.

"Other than Brown and I, we brought Agents M, P, C and T." Terry smirked evilly at the last agent. Perry nodded too, a triumphant smile curling up his face. Doof looked between the two, a confused look on his face.

"Agents who?"

Terry sighed, turning to the newbie evil scientist. He looked at Doof. "Agent Mouse, Pig, Chicken, and Tiger."

Doof exchanged an anticipated look from Perry, who smiled evilly at the events yet to come. "Well where is he?"

"Oh he's coming up the elevator right now. He needed to go up by himself because he was so big that Agent Chicken couldn't even come up with him."

Perry shared a thought with Chester, _Why would someone choose to be a chicken? _

"So how long will it take for Agent T to come up here then?" Perry asked.

"It should be a couple minutes."

"Are the major and Karl coming up too?"

"Dunno," Terry answered. "Do you have anything else you can use as a weapon?"

"Silverware is in the drawer over there. I don't think there are any more paint balls around . . ." Chester mused quietly.

"If only we had a baseball-mitt launcher," Perry muttered. Beside him Terry smirked.

"A what?" Doof asked.

The turtle and platypus smirked, shaking their heads before turning back to the fight before them.

Silence came over the battlefield as the sound of the elevator beeping fell over the room. Perry turned his head, glancing out at the door. Then from the elevator, a large, black striped body slid out, silent as a shadow, as dangerous as a dragon.

"Agent T," Terry whispered. "The wisest agent in the agency, because Agent T joined the agency a long time ago."

"So, he's the senior agent?"

"Yeah, and no offense Perry but she is better than you."

Perry blinked, "She?"

"_That's right kid is there something wrong with a girl being an agent?" _the throaty growl of the female tiger sounded. Perry jerked his head to meet the eyes of the ferocious tigress.

"_No, no. Sorry." _Perry held up his hands in apology, a sign of no disrespect.

"_Good. Now where's that stupid panda?"_

Perry pointed to behind the counters. Yellow eyes flicking over to where the human pointed, the tigress sleeked out of the kitchen, a low growl curling up in her throat. The panda came out of his hiding spot, curling his lips to growl at this new foe. "What do you want?"

"_I'm here to fight you panda. You've had this coming to you for a long time."_

"Have I now?"

"_You have_."

Without giving the panda any time to respond, the tigress lept on her prey, letting out an earth-shattering roar. She crashed on top of the panda with all her weight, her ivory claws ripping and tearing at the panda's colorful fur.

All in all, it seemed that everything was looking up. The other agents cheered from the sidelines, rooting for the spirited cat.

However, it can't always go perfectly.

Peter slashed his claws down across her face over her eye. Agent T let out a furious, pain laden roar that shook the room. Perry knew that her momentary blindness would give her a disadvantage in a fight. Running forward he grabbed a paint ball gun, sprinting at full force towards the panda. Lifting the gun to his shoulders, he quickly aimed, and fired.

The little ball hit its target, right over the panda's eye. The panda roared. Taking the opportunity of the blinded animal, Perry called out to whoever could hear him, "Rope!"

Instantly some rope flew over to him. Perry caught it in his hands. Knowing what he was going to do the other agents ran out from the hiding places, taking their own ropes they kept with them at all times. They started to work immediately, working to bind the panda's feet and jaws together so tightly he could barely move.

It took only about three minutes. Perry, gasping for breath from his flying heart, got down on one knee before the panda, who lay down on his side. The former platypus smiled at him, flicking Peter's black nose. "You've been defeated by a platypus."

Releasing a defeated groan, Peter's head fell back in defeat.

An erupting cheer from the other agents burst out. The battle came to a close.

**(flinch) short chapter, sorriez. Im having temporary writers block. **


	29. Chapter 28: Suit loves you Hatsu! XD

Chapter 28: Precious Memories

Perry released a heavy sigh as the panda got taken out of the building by OWCA workers. When the unconscious Panda was gone, Perry fell back on to the ground, placing a hand over his heart to steady his breathing. He took in huge breaths, paying back the oxygen debt. He looked over to Agent T, who already started to leave. "Thank you," he said to her.

The senior agent turned her large head to him, nodded, then proceeded to leave without a trace.

Terry came to his mentor, falling back the same way. Chester and Brown sat to his left. "Okay, that was scary," the dog said, lolling his tongue out.

"I do not want to experience that again," Chester agreed.

"Very intense," Terry offered.

Doof stood a little ways off from all the agents that were now starting to leave. Brown left with them, pulling Chester along. Terry stayed with his now-human friend. "I'll catch up later," they both called to the cat and dog.

The room fell again to silence as the trio waited. Doof didn't really understand what seemed to be going on. Confused, he walked up to Perry, sitting next to him in the same position. "So uh, what's going on?"

Emotionlessly Perry answered, "I suspect Karl and Monogram will be here any second now to give us a scolding on our rashness at this whole thing."

"_Us_?"

Perry's head snapped at him, "Well it is _your _fault."

"What? How?"

"If you didn't become nemesis's with Peter back then, none of this wouldn't happen." Terry raised an eyebrow at his mentor, shocked at his naivety. He didn't question him however; he knew that his younger mentor needed to get this out of his system while he could still have an honest talk with his nemesis. It came to the turtle in that moment, that no words needed to be spoken from him at this time.

"Oh _come on_! Are you never going to give that up? I'm sorry okay? I chose you, you're my nemesis! I don't want Peter the Panda okay? I thought I made that clear!"

"Yeah before you tried to turn us in to statues!"

"I had to do something the evil scientists would like or they would have kicked me out!" Doof insisted stubbornly. "Besides, the freezinator then wore off eventually. You wouldn't have been statues forever. Only for about a week or so, just enough time for the other evil scientists to forget about it."

Perry glared at Doof, looking away stubbornly. _So that's where the giant escaping dino legend came from. _

Terry watched with intense curiosity. What were they going to do now?

"I'm sorry, okay?" Doof said, more stubbornly now. Perry looked over at him, raising a teal eyebrow. He pulled his hat (which had grown to human size) down over one side of his head. Doof looked up at him, "Can you forgive me?"

Perry looked him up an down, a sour expression on his face. "For now."

The evil scientist sighed, resting his head between his knees. Terry released his breath too, glad the tension of the room could return back to normal. He knew it wouldn't last however.

Several moments of silence passed in the room before Perry spoke, "Hey, Dr. D?"

The scientist looked over at Perry. "Yes?"

"Thanks for, wanting to give me a family. I never could have found one on my own. I'm glad I had someone to take care of me. I'm sorry I couldn't go with you."

Doof nodded. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm just glad you're alive." He asked, "So how did they think you were dead?"

"When I was letting my mom go, I did fall in the river. Fred thought I had drowned because I didn't come up for a long time. I could just hold my breath I guess."

Doof nodded. "I understand."

_I feel invisible, _Terry mused to himself.

The trio looked up at the door as Monogram walked in, flanked by Karl and a dozen agents. They all stood behind Monogram, their hands being held behind their backs. Upon their entry Perry and Terry rose to their feet, saluting the major until he returned it. Monogram scanned over Perry's 'condition'. "Um, Karl, this is going to be a problem."

"Of course sir. That's why I brought these just in case." Karl held up a bag, it's contents unknown.

"A present?"

"Kind of. Here Agent P." Karl walked up and handed Perry the bag.

"You knew this was going to happen Karl?"

"I guessed."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked."

Perry took the bag. Karl nodded at him with a smirk on his face. Silently Perry walked over to the bathroom, coming out a few minutes later wearing a brown suit with a white shirt underneath it, matching brown pants and black shoes. The tie he wore was the same color as his hair. Karl tossed him a hairbrush to smooth out his hair, which he seemed to have trouble with.

Doofenshmirtz sighed audibly. "Oh my gosh just let me do it."

The evil scientist walked over to the former-platypus, taking the hairbrush from him to start pulling through his hair. Monogram looked over them, the evil scientist and his nemesis. They were almost the same height. Amusingly, Perry was taller than Doof, a good half a foot taller than him. Perry complained, "Ow that hurts!"

"Well maybe if you stand still it won't hurt as much! How'd you let it get all tangled like this?"

"I don't know maybe fighting for my life?"

"Don't get cocky Kid."

"Don't call me that!"

"Make me!"

Karl hid behind a snicker of amusement. The agents whispered among themselves so the room wouldn't be enshrouded in complete silence. Terry walked over to Chester and Brown, quietly murmuring to him. Doof glanced over at them, now solemn faced as his hair began to straighten out. "Hey ginger!"

"What?" the cat and turtle snapped.

"One of you go get me some scissors. His hair is driving me crazy."

"You're going to cut my hair?" Perry asked, turning his head a little to look at Doof.

"Yes. It's much too long. If it's longer than mine you know something is wrong," Doof muttered.

"Fine," Perry said stubbornly.

Terry handed the evil scientist the scissors. The sound of clipping fell upon the room. Locks of now smooth teal hair fell in soft clumps here and there. In about half an hour it was over. Perry's hair looked to be a good six inches shorter so the hair only fell to his ears. Chester handed the human a mirror. Perry looked over himself. "It's better," he admit, giving his head a quick little shake, freeing some of the extras left over. His head felt a lot lighter now.

"Back on schedule," Monogram said. Agents, over here please."

Perry walked over to his superior, standing behind him. Karl looked a little sad, avoiding the former-platypus's eyes. Doof stared at them. Monogram cleared his throat and spoke. "Doofenshmirtz, we're sorry to tell you, but, we have to erase your memory with an Amnesia-inator."

"Did I make that?"

"Yes. Yes you did."

"I would have remembered if I did wouldn't I?" From within the crowd, Perry flinched.

"Well, anyway, we need to erase your memory."

"Why?"

"You know too much, where the OWCA is, that our agents can talk, and that your nemesis is a human. It's a danger to us. I'm sorry."

Doof's arms were grabbed, quickly held and tied behind his back by Agent Snake. The reptile slithered away when the deed was done. Doof looked up to Perry, who refused to look at him.

"N-No you can't take my memories! They're my memories! Can't you just relocate or something?"

"We've been in the same building for generations now. It's too late to just move to another building."

"But, but!"

"Agent P, you may say your goodbyes."

The agent nodded, walking up slowly to the captive. He raised his eyes to him, apologies gleaming in his brown orbs. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Doof glared at him. "I thought you were better than this Kid," he murmured. "I thought agents were all about honor and nobility. Now I see you're just another dog to the higher-ups." A disgusted sneer grew over Doof's face. Perry flinched, moving his eyes back down. "I mean, I thought I knew you, but you're just a-"

The evil scientist got cut off from his speaking as Perry's arms wrapped around Doof, giving him a tight hug. Heinz stiffened, shocked by this sudden movement. "I'm sorry," Perry whispered. "I never wanted this to happen."

Doof couldn't really hug back, so he settled for placing his head on Perry's shoulders. "It's okay," he spoke quietly. "You'll just have to be strong okay?"

Perry nodded weakly. From behind Monogram could be heard. "Karl will you stop it? I'm only sweating through my eyes! I am not crying!"

"Sure sir."

Perry stepped away from Doof, turning to Monogram. He held his arms out, as if to shield Doofenshmirtz. "No. Not again Monogram. I can't take it."

All emotion in the major hardened to nothing. "Agent P, stop right there. You know that this is the only thing we can do. If we let him remember we compromise the entire agency."

"Please Major. I don't think I can go through with it a second time."

"Are you resigning from the OWCA?

"No sir!"

"Then stand back."

"A second time?" Doof asked, clearly in the confused territory.

Perry hushed him, "How much does he have to forget?"

"Pretty much the entire day."

"But-"

"Agent P." Monogram glared at him. "Don't push it."

Feeling defeated, Perry looked over at Doofenshmirtz, who stared back at him with wide eyes. But then he'd be sad again. He couldn't bear the thought of Doofenshmirtz going back to thinking he was dead. Perry turned back to Monogram. "Please sir, at least let him remember who I am."

"Can't."

Perry stared at Doofenshmirtz brokenly. He gave the evil scientist one more hug before walking over to stand beside Monogram. "Are you calmed down now Agent P?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Karl, you're up."

Karl pulled out a small ray (inators, portable size now!) pointed it at Doofenshmirtz, and fired.

The man fell unconscious on to the ground. Perry winced where he stood when Doof landed. Chester climbed up on to his shoulders, patting him kindly. The cat felt the weakness in his student's soul. He climbed down in to his arms, purring kindly. Perry held him tightly, not wanting to ever let go.

**Short again sorry!**

**lolz so i came back from winter retreat with a bump on my head. i fell off a sled that was going down a hill really fast by putting my feet down in the ground to slow down, therefore getting careened out of the sled and face-first in to the snow. the first layer was kind of brittle so i got cut up a little :3 it was scary at first because i couldn't breathe after i rolled over. then after that i just walked it off XD **

**anywayz, now one side of my face is all cut up with this big one on my forehead where a layer of skin was torn off, that ones the worst i think :3 so i'll be ok. hatsu is awesome though. we were kind of play-arguing about something and she's started calling it my 'incisor mauled face' X3 loves you hatsu!**


	30. Chapter 29: A First Meeting

Chapter 29: A First Meeting

The man sat back in the cafe, fingering the coffe he had ordered. His teal hair fell in soft drafts to his ears. They had been clipped properly now. He wore the same suit he had been given by Karl, his agent hat resting on the small table in front of him. He sighed, looking around as he waited. Nearby, a group of young teens sat at a table, chatting happily. Perry smirked. He hadn't been with his family for a few weeks. Karl wanted to study his affects of turning back in to a human. "You'll be in your normal form in no time flat Agent P. Don't worry."

The ginger haired teen at the table allowed his eyes to flicker over to the man watching them. Perry didn't remove his gaze from them, so Phineas was the one to break the contact. Ferb stared at him a little longer, more curiousity in his eyes. He too turned away after several more seconds. After their attention moved from him, Perry looked back at the table. He wondered how Doof was holding up right now. The clueless scientist probably felt confused at Perry's unexcused absense. Perry hadn't met with Doof again, and he didn't know if he could.

Because unfortunately, he probably wouldn't be able to stand the sight of Doof knowing that his memory had been erased a second time.

"Hello Agent."

Perry looked up. Two more men dressed in similar clothes faced him. The one with bright orange hair tipped his hat to Perry quietly. The other clicked his tongue, tipping his hat at to the teal-haired agent. His hair too was orange, though not as bright. They pulled up chairs at the table with Perry. The agent smiled at his friends. "Hey guys."

"How are you?" the dark ginger asked. Perry lifted his eyes to the man, the second youngest at the table. Familiar brown eyes searched him. It hadn't been the second time this happened. The one with bright hair watched Perry sadly, gold eyes shimmering.

Perry didn't answering, lowering his head. There was no point lying. He felt horrible, like nothing could ever lift his spirits again. Why did he feel this way so frequently nowadays?

"I'm so sorry Perry," the bright haired one murmured.

"It's okay Chester. I'll get over it."

The eldest penetrated his electric eyes on his apprentice, judging the truth in his voice. He detected that he wanted to be okay, but, he didn't know how."

Terry looked between the two of them. He sighed sadly. He removed the hat from his head, pulling his hand through his hair. "This stinks," he announced. Chester tossed him a small smile.

"At least we get to be human for a little while."

Perry looked to Terry. "Hey Terry, why's your hair orange?"

"Why's yours? I still can't believe you were serious about your hair looking like that."

"What you don't like it."

"Well as stylish as it is. . ."

Perry laughed. Terry joined, Chester only emitting a soft chuckle. They all looked at each other, letting out a long and tired sigh.

"It's weird, being human for so long," Terry whispered, voice quiet so no one else could overhear.

"I don't know how I can stand without my tail." Chester fidgeted a little, as if wishing it was still there.

"It's okay. We'll be human again soon. Remember, we volunteered for this."

Chester nodded. He didn't want Perry to think they were doing it just for him. Terry and Chester agreed to it though, to be human for a little while so Perry could have some support while he was a human.

"Do the boys know?" Terry asked.

Perry gave him a hard glare. "What kind of question is that?"

The former turtle cleared his throat, dark eyes flicking over to behind Perry. The platypus looked behind him to see Phineas staring at him again. Terry spoke softer, "I mean, you're a guy in secret agent clothes, with blue teal hair. Isn't that suspicious?"

Perry looked back to his agent friends. "Uh, no?" He recalled the dream he had while he was dead, or alomost dead. Phineas beaming at him amid the fresh grass and flowers, everything about Perry's life and who he was still in his mind. A part of him still remembered. His ears flicked back as he heard Isabella speak.

"What is it Phineas?"

"Do you, recognize that guy Ferb?"

Perry felt the teens' eyes on him. "Whoa, deja vu," Ferb's voice sounded.

"So yes?"

Ferb must have given Phineas a hand signal, because Phineas spoke again. "Yeah, me too. Should we talk to him?"

Perry's blood felt as though it ran cold through his body. He stiffened, hearing the shuffling of their feet approaching him. In front of him, Chester and Terry watched with huge eyes, not knowing what to to. The sound of footsteps ceased. The former playpus narrowed his eyes, assessing the situation. He rotated slightly as the familiar voice spoke, "Uh, sir?"

The agent breathed quietly, turning. He put an arm over the back of the chair. "Yes?"

He held back the choke in his throat, meeting the eyes of the teenager. It felt so much more real to be talking to him while both of them were awake. He nodded at Ferb, adjusting attention back to Phineas, who didn't move his eyes away. "Do we know you?"

Perry blinked, feigning confusion. He furrowed his brows. "Hmm, I don't know. You do look familiar. Ah. . . what are your names?"

"I'm Phineas, and this is my brother Ferb."

Perry stared at them, finally cracking a smile. "Actually, I think I do remember you. You have a sister right? A ginger? Ah, she looks like her mom right?"

Phineas beamed, "Yeah! Candace! She looks _just _like Mom!"

The man smiled. "Yeah I remember I saw you kids in the park years ago. It was what, nine years ago? You guys might not remember now. You were probably seven at that time. I was. . .thirteen.

Phineas smiled. "Hey! That's right! You were that dirty older kid we saw in the park! Haha! Candace thought you were cute. Too bad for you though, she already has a boyfriend." Ferb nudged his brother's ribs. Phineas cleared his throat. "Ah, sorry, I mean 'soon-to-be-fiancée."

Perry smiled. "It's nice to see you guys again. You've grown haven't you?"

"A little," the sixteen year old said in a little bit of embarrassment. Ferb smiled at him lightly.

The group of teens looked over. "Oh, we'd better be going now. We'll catch you later. Oh hey, what's your name?"

Perry nodded at them, shaking both of their hands. "I'm Kid. It's nice to meet you Phineas and Ferb."

"Us too. See ya!"

The brothers ran over to their friends, chatting back to normal things. Perry watched, smiling when he spotted Isabella reach for Phineas's hand. He took it without thinking, giving her an encouraging smile.

_Totally oblivious._

Perry's eyes shifted over to the entrance of the coffee shop. His heart flipped in nervousness. He looked at Terry and Chester. "I have an appointment here guys. Can you go now?"

"No problem," Terry placed his hat on to his head. Chester copied the action, standing up. They tipped their hats to Perry, leaving quickly, not wanting to cause any disturbance.

The agent now left alone breathed evenly, trying to contain his nervousness. He sipped his coffee, ignoring the bitter taste. He should have put more sugar and cream in it.

The man Perry was focused on now turned. His eyes naturally shifted over to the agent, merely scanning over him. He made a double-take, looking back at the teal haired man. His eyes got really wide. Perry pretended to be sipping his coffee and reading the paper, but he was using his peripheral vision to watch his target. He'd known Doof for a long time. There was no way he could just walk away from this.

Of course, Doof did exactly what Perry predicted.

The man walked up to Perry, who pretended to read the paper. When Doof spoke he raised his head. "I'm sorry do I know you?"

_I've heard that before, _Perry thought with a smirk.

Perry's eyes grew wide. "Dr. D?" he murmured.

Doof nodded slowly. "Kid?"

Releasing a huge smile, the agent jumped to his feet, wrapping the man in a huge hug, which Doof eagerly returned. "I can't believe you're here!" Perry smiled.

"Me either!" Doof looked at him, taking a step back from the man who was now taller than him. "I thought you were dead."

"What? Since when?"

"Fred thought you had drowned in the river."

"No I didn't. You drove me somewhere after I got out."

Doof's eyes grew wide as the pieces fell in place. "But- wow I can't believe it!" He smiled at his old friend. "There's so much I've wanted to tell you."

"Me too! I've been looking for you for so long but I forgot the way to your home, and I've been so busy I just assumed you'd probably moved or something."

"No I've been living in the same place for years." Doof gave a shuddering laugh, tears spilling from his eyes. He gave Perry another hug. The agent returned it. "It's been far too long my son."

Perry's heart clenched. He smirked. "Wow I knew you were old but not that old."

"Oh haha."

A new friendship had begun.


	31. Chapter 30: The Beginning of the End

Chapter 30: The Beginning of the End.

Things returned back to normal pretty much. Life went on. After a little while Karl transformed the agent back to his original form. Perry told Doof as Kid that he needed to go away for a little while on a business trip, so he wouldn't be able to visit any time soon. Doof understood. "Okay," he said, a little sad.

Every day however, at eight at night, Perry would get a call from his nemesis. They'd talk about an hour, just telling the other about their day. It seemed t become a regular thing with them over the years. Every so often Perry would turn himself back in to a human so he could go visit Doof, then turn back to a platypus afterwards.

Years did pass. Perry remained Doof's faithful nemesis, and vice versa. Peter the Panda was disbanded from the OWCA, then dropped off at a zoo where he resides to this day. Phineas, Ferb and Candace grew up, leaving the house after they graduated. Perry got to meet their children, and their children after that.

Of course, with time passing, Death follows.

Perry, now in his later years, sat at Doofenshmirtz's side. The evil scientist was in his late eighties, Perry in his sixties. Both had grown old, so very old, but the platypus knew he still had some years left in him. He sat with Doof in his human form, what teal hair left was cut short, combed back. Wrinkles covered his face, even less on the evil scientist's. Perry held on to Doof's old knobby hand, a gentle smile on his face. "I'll miss you old friend," the agent whispered.

"You'll see me before long won't you?" Doof asked, his voice hoarse. "We'll go together one day."

"Will you wait for me?" Perry asked with a smirk.

"Of course I will Perry," Doof murmured, eyes starting to fall closed.

The human blinked. "I'm not Perry," he told him.

"You think you can fool me?" Doof whispered, his voice trailing. "Don't you think it's convenient that my nemesis and best friend both have teal hair?"

Perry smirked. "How long have you known?"

"Years," Doof wheezed. "I just didn't tell you. Didn't want you to feel bad, and something told me I shouldn't tell you I knew."

Perry kept up his smirk. "Take care of Vanessa will you?"

"Don't worry, Ferb won't leave her anytime soon."

"I'm glad," Doof sighed, closing his eyes. Then as easy as if he were falling asleep, the evil scientist breathed his last.

Perry released a shuddering sigh, letting his tears flow freely. He didn't wipe them away until he knew he was done, using the backs of his hand. On his watch the screen fizzed to life, showing the aging Karl; Monogram passed away years ago.

"Hello Agent P," Karl said with a sad smile. "How'd it go?"

"He's passed on now. He's at peace."

"I'm glad. You were with him?"

"The very second."

"I'm glad. You were his best friend."

"Thanks Karl."

The watch turned off. Perry lowered his arm, looking to his nemesis' passed on expression. The elder agent smirked reminiscently, pulling the sheet up over the aged corpse's body.

That night after Doof had been handed over, Perry walked to the agency, remaining in his human form. This was a usual sight for the younger agents; they recognized him easily, tipping their hats to him in respect as he passed. Next to him, two other agents in human form came up to him. "Hey Kid," the aged agent said, once bright orange hair now faded to a more mellow tone.

"Hey Chester."

"How's Doof?"

"He's at peace now."

"It was easy?"

"Easy as falling asleep."

"Then I'm glad he can rest. We'll be following him before long."

"You're telling me," a newcomer said, coming up to join them. Hair also a faded orange. "I feel like it's only been a minute, like just a few minutes ago we were still young bucks running around like idiodts."

"Hey Shell. How's Brown?"

"He _still _thinks he's the king of the clowns." Recently Brown had retired, going to live in a retired home as a dog, where Terry lives as well. They see each other frequently.

Kid smirked, tipping his hat to another agent that passed.

"So where you going now?" Chester asked, walking with his hands in his suit pockets.

"To the Major."

"What for?"

"I'm resigning."

"Already?" Karl said with an amused smirk on his face. "Well I guess we can't expect you to be here forever." The faded redhead looked over the paper work. "You've worked with us for many years Perry, it's an honor to have worked with you."

They shook hands. "You're welcome sir."

Karl smiled. Perry gave the salute, Karl returned it. "Think you'll be okay without me around?"

"Of course, I have my new intern to help me out too. Ferb, where's my coffee?"

The middle aged green head came out of nowhere, placing a mug of steaming coffee down on the table. He smirked at Perry. "Retiring already?"

"Can't stay here forever," Perry shrugged.

"We'll miss you around here Perry," Ferb said. "Take care of Phineas for me."

"Of course."

Yes, Ferb had became an intern of the OWCA, meaning the future Major of the organization. And of course, it was mandatory that he could tell his family about his job in case any animals with hats showed up.

So of course Phineas knew what went on.

Perry turned himself back in to a platypus, taking his small car back home, parking it in a secret garage. He walked in to the house through the platypus door, jumping in, landing on the bed. Phineas looked over. "Oh hey boy." The once redhead teen had grown up, having children of his own. Glasses now sat on his triangular nose, a shaved goatee over his chin. "Done fighting bad guys for the day?"

Perry smirked, nodding faintly. He yawned, curling up in a ball. Phineas got up, placing down the newspaper to sit next to Perry. The redhead scratched at Perry's belly. "You're getting old. Have you retired yet?"

"Today," the platypus answered, stretching out so Phineas could scratch his belly better. It didn't matter how old the platypus ever got, this would always feel really good.

"Finally. I was wondering when you would quit. It's about time, you're not exactly a spring chicken anymore."

"And you are?"

"Well I'm younger than you."

It was at that time a woman entered in to the house. "Hey Phin, hey Perry. Whatcha doin?"

Phineas stood up, walking over to the girl, twirling her around as she hung up her keys. He wrapped a hand around her waist, planting a firm kiss on her lips before releasing her. "Oh just building a roller coaster."

"Again? It better not be in the house."

_Their usual routine, _the platypus thought fondly with a smirk.

"Are the kids home yet?" she asked after he kissed her a second time.

"No not yet. How was work?"

"It was fine. Hey there you are Perry."

The woman knelt down in front of the platypus, who straightened himself up in front of her, thumping his tail on the floor like a loyal dog. He tilted his head to the side, watching her, waiting for her to speak.

"You finally resigned huh?" she asked, reaching a soft hand forward to lift his head up ever so slightly to get a better look at the gray strands of fur that started to show. She smirked. "I could tell the second I walked in. You seem a little more, relaxed somehow."

Isabella straightened up. "I guess it's about time you did too. Phineas is always worrying about you."

Her eyes softened a little, "Doofenshmirtz must have passed on then huh?"

Perry nodded silently. Isabella reached down to pet him. "He's at peace now."

The old platypus looked up, a thankful gleam in his eyes.

More years pass. Fast forward to Perry. He's lying on his bed, surrounded by his friends. Chester already died, along with Terry and Brown. Perry is the only one left. "_I always was the kid,"_ he thought with a smirk as Phineas held on to his hand, the same way Perry held on to Doof's when he died.

"We'll miss you Perry," he heard Phineas murmur to him.

Their images faded out as Perry gave one more chatter.

**one more chapter after this, the epilogue. thank you guyz so much for following this story through to the very end. *bows* **

**hatsu and i got a way for you guys to see the human perry pictures. :3 the links are at my profile page if anyone wants to look at them :3**


	32. Chapter 31: Epilogue

Whiteness gleamed over him. The platypus lifted his eyes, sitting up. He was in the land of dreams again. He looked at his paws, hands now. Smooth young hands over perfect flesh. He reached up a hand to touch his soft teal hair, longer now so it fell to his ears. He smirked to himself,

Human again.

The now human stood up. He touched his face, cleanly shaved. He felt taller, so maybe he was about twenty-ish?

"It's my time now," he said, looking around. The Land of Dreams, which usually seemed to hum with the existence of sleeping humans, now felt empty. Nobody was around.

Perry squinted against the mist, trying to make out something, anyone, anything. He did spot something; his mind stirred. Was that a. . . unicorn standing next to a fair maiden with silver hair?

_Maybe it's a good thing you have passed on Perry, you're starting to see things._

The former platypus looked around, pulling on his teal tie to loosen it a little.

The agent tuned his ears, finally capturing the sound of running water. He began to walk, nearing the place where he could finally go and rest.

"You deserve it too."

Perry turned his head, finding a much younger Doofenshmirtz standing nearby, an amused smile on his face. Perry tipped his hat to his old nemesis. There was more cocoa hair on this younger man's face, aquamarine eyes more light, filled with life.

Even though they were dead, ha ha.

The evil scientist remained to wear his usual attire with his lab coat. He held his hands in his pockets, walking up to the human (who remained to be taller than him). "It's been too long," he said kindly.

"It has old friend."

Doof's hand rested on Perry's shoulder, Perry rested his hand on Doof's shoulder. It had been far too long since he rested eyes on his nemesis, to see that youthful light in his eyes.

Without realizing it, tears dripped from Perry's eyes. Emotion overwhelmed him, and Doof let Perry fall in to his embrace, floods of warmth going through the recently deceased soul. Perry let the familiar scent flood his senses, savoring it. "I've missed you Dad."

Not realizing what he said until it was too late, Perry froze, stiffening. He knew what he said, a part of him wanted to take it back, but it was true. In many ways Doof acted as a father Perry never could have. To say it out loud though. . .

Doof backed away slightly, shock formed over his features. After a pause he then smiled through tears of his own, going over to Perry's side, putting an arm around his shoulders, giving him a hug like any father would. "I've missed you too son."

They both looked over to the bridge that now formed close by. Standing together, they walked over the bridge that led to eternity. From the other side, Perry just started to make out the sight of a blurred image. It was a woman, with flowing ebony hair.

The other side became more clear. Perry's eyes widened. The bridge behind, everything back in earth didn't matter. An overwhelming sense of peace entrapped him, and he fell willingly in to its embrace.

Doof ran a hand through Perry's hair. "Welcome home Kid."

**d'ohmygosh I can believe it's finally over. It's only felt like a day since I first started this, people telling me to update like, chapter 5 super fast and stuff like that. **

**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I cannot stress that enough. :3 your reviews and time you have given for this fanfic means SO MUCH to me! :D **

**i'm going to go work on an HP fanfic now. (note to self: FINISH FANFICS BEFORE STARTING ANOTHER) i've dug a hole for myself and I have like 3 fanfics that I havent finished yet. GAH and that KILLS me! SO i'm going to finish those before I work on anything new. (cough) Hoodwinked (cough). **

**Fyi, I got a cold so I wasn't able to upload yesterday. I left home halfway through school, sorry I was lazy, but I have a good excuse. My brother had the flu on top of that, (threw up 9 times) we were both home all day XD **

**lolz, again, THANK YOU! :D**

**and zomg, we reached 135 pages on my document. Biggest. Story. EVAH!**


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